Meet The Order of the Phoenix
by SweetDeamon
Summary: "Well" Dora said as she climbed into bed beside her husband. "This is all rather impressive, apparently you've managed to single handedly declare war upon the Ministry for Magic! Well I hope you're pleased with yourself!" "I am." came the simple response.
1. Betrayal

_Note: Hello! This is Meet the Order of the Phoenix, the 4th in the Meet the... series (the others in reading order being Meet the Lupins, Meet the Muggles and Meet the Marauders!). This is an AU story in that Remus and Tonks survived the final battle! Although it is par of a series you are welcome to read it on it's own – all you need to know is that Caroline "Carrie" Winters is a muggle girl who befriended Teddy and learnt about the Wizarding World! I won't say much else because I'm supposed to be sleeping, but stayed up to finish Meet the Marauders...so...I'll just finish by saying that I hope you enjoy this story!_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter._

**1: Betrayal **

It was a calm, quiet early summer's evening in the town of Eddington and the town's inhabitants were beginning to wind down for the evening. Yet on the outskirts of town, within the confines of Goodwin College, the local student population was intent on being very lively indeed.

As she stood just outside of the college's main entrance, the dull thud of music drifting out the open doors from the party within, Carrie Winters reached to hug her bare arms around herself with a shiver. The seventeen year old stared blankly at the wall opposite her where, some half an hour earlier, she had found herself sandwiched between said brick wall and a certain Austin Myers, who had seemed intent on snogging her senseless, possibly in the hope that she might not notice his non-too discreet attempt to grope her bust through the flimsy material of the new party dress that she had worn specially for the evening.

It had all been rather like the scene she had witnessed a short while later, except it hadn't been a brick wall, it had been the smooth plastered wall of the college's entrance hall.

And it hadn't been Austin and Carrie.

It had been Austin and Melanie Porter.

Melanie bloody Porter. The orange stick insect with the massive boobs and the disgusting piercings in places people only whispered about. And Austin. Carrie's boyfriend of three whole months!

Carrie pursed her lips together against the swell of nausea that seemed to twist her insides.

"He's a dick." a voice announced flatly from the doorway to her left, and at the sound of scuffling footsteps, Carrie mumbled:

"Hmm."

"They all are. Boys, I mean. I don't know why you bother with them."

Carrie said nothing to acknowledge her friend Cleo Clancy's words. She was much too busy remembering the conversation that she and Austin had had just after she had laid eyes upon the horrible spectacle.

_The thing is, Carrie...well the thing is...I like you. A lot. But...but the thing is..._

She wasn't orange enough. She didn't stuff enough tissue down her bra.

_It's just sometimes...sometimes I think that your not really...committed. To...us, you know? It's like..._

She didn't want to have sex with him. She didn't think they were old enough, she didn't think she'd known him long enough.

_The fact of the matter is, Caroline, Austin has been into me for ages,_ the orange monstrosity had announced, one hand still groping the back of Austin's jeans. _It's not your fault or anything it's just...well you're just not right for him. You know, he wants..._

A slut.

_A proper woman. Not a girl. It's okay, you know, we all grow up differently..._

_I didn't mean for you to find out like this,_ the traitor had told her._ I'm dead sorry._

He hadn't looked dead sorry. He hadn't followed her when she had turned and fled out of the doors. He'd probably gone back to tongue wrestling the orange monstrosity in the nearest broom cupboard instead.

"Jessica Bates says that Laura Temple heard from the Dixon twins that he shagged her after Ben Simpson's house party the other week." Cleo informed her, and Carrie reached to sweep the hair back from her face with a heavy sigh.

"I don't care." she told the dark haired girl beside her, still not turning to face her, and Cleo reached to slap her enthusiastically upon the arm as she declared:

"Exactly! Screw them, they aren't worth it! I always thought he was a idiot, you know..."

As Cleo launched into an increasingly vicious attack upon Austin's deeply flawed and disgraceful character, Carrie gritted her teeth together against tears and wondered why, if she didn't care, she felt such a overwhelming urge to cry.

It was true, to a degree, she wasn't that bothered that she and Austin were no longer together. She hadn't really liked him all that much. Sometimes he had been quite boring, in fact looking back over the course of their time together Carrie could not recall one significent outing or event that they had shared. Most of the time they had sat around in the local park and chatted. Except Austin wasn't a very good speaker, or listener for that matter. Or kisser, which was surprising given that kissing was the only thing that they had really done as a couple with any real enthusiasm, on his part at the very least.

As a matter of fact, Carrie had only agreed to go out with Austin because during the Easter Holidays she'd looked over her garden fence and seen Teddy Lupin kissing Victoire Weasley, when they were halfway through hiding Easter eggs for their horde of younger cousins to search for later that afternoon.

Not that Carrie had been jealous or anything. After all, she and Teddy were just best friends.

It didn't matter that she hadn't really liked Austin all that much, or that breaking up with him was actually a bit of a relief. It still made her feel sick. It still made her feel pathetic and unwanted. It was still humiliating, horrible, horrendous, hurtful...

It still made her want to burst into tears...

"You know," Carrie mumbled, interrupting Cleo's latest complaint about the state of Austin's wardrobe, "I don't really feel like partying anymore. I think I might just go home."

"Do you want me to go in there and give him a good smack in the face?" Cleo asked rather hopefully, and her face fell when Carrie shook her head.

"No thanks, Cleo."

"What about her? Go on, I've always wanted to see what she'd do if somebody yanked out those hideous hair extensions..."

"No, it's fine. I'm just going to go home."

"Won't the rest of your family still be at your aunt's house?"

"Probably. It's fine, I've got a key."

The walk home was a long and depressing one. Unlike the secondary school that she had attended the year beforehand, Goodwin College was quite a distance from Carrie's house. Usually she took a bus there and back each day, but since she had gotten a lift there in Austin's car and had expected him to drive her back again at the end of the night, she had left her bus pass at home. The majority of the walk was spent wondering just what Austin could possibly see in Melanie bloody Porter, and what were the chances of the two of them breaking up before the start of the new term in September, so that Carrie wouldn't have to see them slobbering all over one another when she passed by in the corridor. By the time she reach home her feet had grown sore, and she was considering just going straight to bed and crying herself to sleep when she came to a halt at the bottom of her driveway, eyes coming to rest upon the house next door and the sight instantly cheered her.

Carrie had lived next door to Teddy Lupin and his parents, Remus and Dora, ever since the summer before her first year at secondary school, and it had not been long before she had become very attached to them indeed. They were, as far as Carrie was concerned, her second family, and in many ways she felt that she was more close to them than her own relatives. There were a great number of reasons for this, such as the fact that during the summer holidays she spent more time in their house than her own, or the fact that Teddy knew her better than anybody else in the whole world, but the main reason was simply this:

The Lupins understood her better than anybody else ever could.

Because the Lupins knew about Carrie's Big Secret.

And the reason that the Lupins knew about Carrie's Big Secret was because they _were_ her Big Secret.

Carrie knew something about the Lupins that nobody else could ever know:

They were magical.

Not magical as in the Disney World full of people dressed in costumes sort of magical, nor magical as in the creepy, disturbing sense of the word that involved pins and voodoo dolls. No, the Lupins were magical as in proper, real magic.

Yes, Carrie lived next door to a couple of wizards and a witch, and yet more astonishing still was the fact that the Lupin family also consisted of a pair of shape shifters and a werewolf.

It was said werewolf who greeted Carrie a moment later when, before she could quite decide why, the muggle had made a beeline for the Lupins' front door and gave the large brass knocker a few firm taps. She later supposed that she simply couldn't stand the idea of sitting home alone after her ordeal. After all, if she was to sulk properly she would require a large supply of chocolate. And if Teddy's father Remus could be relied upon for anything, it was the ability to produce a substantial horde of Honeyduke's Finest on demand.

"Hi..." Carrie mumbled once the door had been pulled open, desperately attempting to think of an excuse to invite herself inside. She was about to ask if Teddy was home, only to remember that he had told her the previous day that he was going to be having dinner at his grandmother's house. She wondered what time he would be home.

"Evening Carrie," Remus greeted, and as if reading her mind he supplied: "Ted's not home yet, I'm afraid."

"Oh..." Carrie mumbled, gaze falling to her shoes. She frowned at them, sure that her feet would be covered in blisters when she finally got the chance to take them off.

"You're looking rather dressed up!" Remus observed cheerfully, which only made her feel even more wretched. "Are you going somewhere nice?"

"No...not really." the muggle admitted with a shrug, eying the hallway behind him rather longingly. "I was just coming home, actually..." struck by sudden inspiration, she decided: "But I've locked myself out."

"Do you want me to unlock the door for you?" Remus asked, and before she could stop herself, Carrie found herself again saying:

"No...not really."

"I see..." the werewolf said, glancing over his shoulder in order to follow her gaze before turning back to offer her a raised eyebrow. "Cup of tea, then?" he said, and she wasted no time in squeezing past him through the doorway with a marginally more cheerful:

"Yes please."

As she set about pulling the high heels from her feet, wincing at the sores, she glanced down the hallway towards the empty kitchen and wondered:

"Where's Dora?"

"She's still at work." Remus said as he shut the door and turned to head for the kitchen. Once shoe free, Carrie hobbled after him, coming to a halt in the kitchen doorway. She observed him filling the kettle in silence, an odd sort of relief slowly falling over her, only to drop her gaze to the floor when he glanced round at her to ask:

"What have you been up to, then?"

"College party." she managed to mumble reluctantly, and the werewolf asked:

"How was it?"

Carrie felt an odd urge to laugh at the simplicity of the question that had such a complicated and muddled answer. It took her a good few seconds before she settled on:

"Humiliating."

"Hm."

Carrie looked up to find Remus frowning into the pair of mugs that he had just splashed milk into the bottoms of. As the kettle began to hiss and bubble, he reached to drop a couple of teabags into the nearby teapot before asking: "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Maybe..." Carrie mumbled, and as he set about pouring the water into the teapot she wandered forwards to take a seat at the kitchen table, glad to be off of her feet. Reaching to fold her arms upon the table before her, she leant forward to bury her face in them with a heavy sigh. Staring into the blackness of her eyelids, she listened to him move about the kitchen, replacing the milk in the fridge, stirring the tea in the pot before pouring it into the mugs. A drawer was briefly opened and closed before Carrie heard him take a seat opposite her and she looked up to find herself offered a steaming mug of tea and, to her amusement despite herself, a large bar of milk chocolate wrapped in shiny golden foil.

"Thank you." she whispered with a sniff, and it suddenly occurred to her that a few tears had managed to escape her eyes, leaving shining salty trails down her cheeks.

"You're very welcome." came the warm response, and Remus leant back in his chair, hands wrapped tightly around his own mug, waiting patiently for her to begin talking.

Because she would start talking, Carrie knew that she would. If there was anybody who could shed some sort of clarity on a situation and make it all seem better, it was Remus. Carrie had presented him with all manner of problems and scenarios over the years, and he always seemed able to make her feel better about them, no matter how upset she felt. They had never talked about boys before. Usually, that was Dora's job, or possibly if Carrie felt desperate, her own mother's. Mrs. Winters was, to her daughter's mind, a little useless, for her advice was usually limited to: it'll be better in the morning, Carrie love. Dora, on the other hand, had some years previously given Carrie one piece of advice that the muggle swore to live by. And yet right now, Carrie was struggling.

Which was why Austin and Melanie Bloody Porter seemed so utterly dreadful. If Dora wasn't here to help, Remus would have to do instead.

"I caught Austin snogging Melanie Porter, in front of half my class!" Carrie announced, tears immediately blurring her vision at the memory. "And they weren't even...even embarrassed or...or anything! And...and the stupid cow said in front of everybody that I was...that I was immature and that Austin liked her better than me! And...and Cleo says they slept together at this other party we went to and everybody knew about it except for me!" She paused in her babbling to look up and gage the wizard's reaction to these revelations to find him apparantly engrossed in an examination of a small paper cut upon his index finger, a small frown creasing his brow.

"I know it's...it's stupid," she went on, assuming that he was listening equally as intently to what she was saying. "I know what Dora said that time, how she said it doesn't really matter when your young and you aren't like...like properly in love. I know she said there's no point getting upset about boys you like, that it only matters when it's a man you love...but...but I feel HORRIBLE!"

Remus abandoned his examination in order to lean forward in his chair, elbows coming to rest upon the table.

"Well of course you feel horrible." he told her. "You thought you could trust Austin, that he liked you as much as you liked him..."

"I don't really like him that much..." Carrie muttered, and the werewolf shrugged.

"You thought he liked you _enough_, then. Enough not to hurt you or betray you. But you were wrong. And it doesn't matter who he is, or what you really think of him, the fact of the matter is, Carrie, that betrayal hurts. No matter what its nature."

"How long does it hurt for?" the teenager wondered dejectedly, and he smiled sadly and recalled:

"It can hurt for an eternity, if you let it." he paused to take a sip of tea as she slumped further down into her seat at the thought, but then he set the mug firmly back down upon the table and rose purposefully to his feet. "But of course you won't do that, will you? After all, we're talking teenage crushes, not a thirty year marriage. You say you don't really like him that much and, from what Teddy tells me, this Austin of yours is...what was the phrase? Ah, yes..._a bit of a prat_."

At last, Carrie sniggered, and he smiled encouragingly.

"There are plenty of people who love and care for you, Carrie." Remus told her as he reached to pick up the chocolate bar, tearing the foil open and breaking off a couple of squares. "And there are some people out there who don't have anybody at all. So what if a boy at college decides he prefers some other girl to you? Your lucky enough to have plenty of other friends...some of whom might not even be prats like he was. I mean I can't speak for Teddy, obviously, but...well, there are others, aren't there?" As she sniggered again he paused to take a generous bite of chocolate before offering her the rest of the bar. "Tell you what," he said as she accepted it with a grateful smile. "You eat the rest of that and we'll see what we can do about that dress of yours. You can't get all dressed up like that and not go out somewhere nice."

And with that, he disappeared out of the door, up the hallway and into the living room.

Carrie sat at the table, chewing thoughtfully on chocolate for a long, curious moment before hearing the distinct roaring sound of somebody using the floo network. She got to her feet and wandered down the hallway, pausing beside the large mirror upon the wall as she heard footsteps from outside and the front door's lock gave a loud click. With that, it was pushed open and the muggle watched Teddy's mother Dora step across the threshold, dressed in her scarlet Auror robes, today sporting a head of sleek, dark red hair. As the witch paused to shrug the bag from her shoulder, before reaching to hook it upon one of the cloak hooks upon the wall, she spotted the watching teenager and, apparantly entirely unsurprised to see her, greeted:

"Wotcher, Carrie love."

"Hi Dora." Carrie replied, watching as the witch stooped to unlace the hefty black boots upon her feet.

When she straightened up a moment later, reaching to stretch her arms above her head with a yawn, the witch announced to the house at large:

"I don't smell chicken curry!"

There was a sizable pause as from inside the living room Remus pulled his head free from the emerald flames and got back to his feet. Reaching to dust soot from his hair, he called:

"Sorry, Dora, I forgot."

"You forgot?" Dora repeated, sounding distinctly disbelieving as she set off up the hallway, past Carrie and into the kitchen. "It's dinner, Remus, you know that meal we have once every day? How could you possibly forget it?" Carrie turned to watch her observe the mugs and chocolate wrapper upon the table with a deep frown as she asked: "Are we having CHOCOLATE instead?"

"I might have gotten a bit distracted." Remus admitted as he went to follow her. "Are you alright? You're rather late."

Dora's expression contorted in a manner that suggested to Carrie that no, she wasn't alright in the slightest. Remus appeared to reach the same conclusion, for he pursed his lips together rather apprehensively before venturing:

"Not a brilliant day at the Ministry today, no?"

His wife rounded on him with a look of such fury that Carrie thought he ought regret opening his mouth.

"They've got a PETITION going!" Dora announced, eyes wide in outrage. "A bloody PETITION! And they say they're going to submit it to the Wizengamot to try and alter the bloody law!"

Carrie had absolutely no idea who they were, or what law they were trying to change, but she could only assume that this was bad news indeed, for Remus' face fell considerably and he reached to run a worried hand through his hair.

"Well...surely nothing will come of it..." he began hesitantly, only for Dora to shake her head and tell him:

"Are you kidding? I've seen the bloody list of names, some moron was trying to get me to sign it, it's longer than one of Mad-Eye's prep talks!" With that, she went to drop moodily down into Carrie's vacated chair and Remus pursed his lips together in an attempt to think of something comforting to say. But at that precise moment, there came the sound of somebody exiting the floo network and the werewolf made for the living room again.

Carrie halted her curious staring as Dora leant back to gaze up at the ceiling with a deep frown, when she heard a familiar voice drifting out from the living room.

"But Dad...I've already eaten dinner..."

Carrie's gaze darted over towards the living room doorway as she heard Remus say:

"I don't care, take her anyway."

"But...it was one of GRAN'S dinners! I couldn't eat another mouthful if I TRIED..."

"Excellent. In which case I'll be paying for dinner for one. Go and put a shirt on, won't you? you look a mess."

And with that, a rather bewildered looking Teddy Lupin emerged from the living room, eyes coming to rest upon the girl stood before the mirror with a broad smile.

"Hey Carrie!"

"Hi Ted..."

"Give me just a minute!" the turquoise haired boy announced cheerily as his father appeared behind him and gave him a firm push towards the stairs. "I'll be right back!" And with that, he disappeared with a loud crack, making the werewolf beside him jump.

"For the last time, Theodore, no apparating inside the house!" Remus bellowed up the staircase as a loud crash sounded from somewhere above. "We've had enough smashed ornaments, thank you very much!" As he passed Carrie on his way back to the kitchen, he shook his head with a heavy sigh.

"Don't tell me you didn't apparate from room to room when you first passed." Dora said with a grin, apparantly beginning to get over her mood.

"Of course I did." Remus muttered as he reached to grab a saucepan from a cupboard and set it down upon the stove. "And I'm pretty sure the furniture never recovered."

As talk turned to what was the quickest meal that could be cooked with what was left in the fridge, because Dora was starving, and whether or not it would be easier simply to apparate into town and order a pizza, Carrie turned to gaze at her reflection in the mirror opposite her.

And despite herself, it was not long before she began to ponder a very troubling question:

Did Austin prefer Melanie Bloody Porter because she was prettier than average? Or did Austin not prefer Carrie because she was uglier than average?

Carrie watched herself purse her lips together in consideration.

Was that a spot on her chin?

And had she always had that many freckles?

She reached to flatten a wayward strand of hair, but it didn't seem to want to lie flat.

She glanced sideways into the kitchen where Dora was still sitting at the table, one leg propped lazily up on the chair opposite. Carrie had idolized Teddy's mother for almost as long as she had known her, for the most part because she was a witch. For many years Carrie had wanted nothing more than to be able to do magic, but she had rarely given much thought to Dora's ability to change her appearance. Carrie had always labeled it as just another form of magic.

But what a wonderful form of magic it was.

Carrie was pretty sure that Dora had never had a spot on her face in living memory. Indeed, her complexion was bordering on flawless, because she could simply make it that way.

Beautiful wasn't exactly the right word to describe Dora Lupin, because that was far too girly a word. But her features were entirely in proportion to one another, and under the rather baggy clothes that she had worn to work that day was a slender, rather petite frame. She'd be forever slim without trying.

Whereas Carrie's features didn't seem to match, her nose was too narrow, jaw too wide, her bottom lip too thick...

As Remus set about breaking eggs into a bowl, having finally settled upon omletes for dinner, Dora headed for the stairs, only for Carrie to halt her with a mumble.

"Dora...?"

The Deputy Head of Aurors paused to turn and offer the muggle a questioning look, and the girl turned to fix her with a deadly serious expression.

"Am I ugly?"

Dora blinked. And then she blinked again, and a soft snort of laughter escaped her lips as she said:

"What?"

"I said am I ugly?" Carrie repeated, entirely unamused, and Dora's eyes widened at the realization that she was being serious.

"Don't be ridiculous, Carrie love." the metamorphmagus said, reaching to put her hands upon the girl's shoulders and turning her back to face the mirror, peering over her shoulder at their reflections. "Why in Merlin's name would you think that?"

"I don't know..." Carrie mumbled, and she watched, cheeks reddening as Dora scrunched up her face for a moment, and her features shifted and changed, her hair suddenly lengthening until Carrie found herself staring at a second face that was identical to her own.

"Of course you know!" the second face insisted with a broad smile.

"Well..." Carrie said, reaching to hug her arms around herself. "My...my lips."

"What's wrong with them?"

"They're fat."

"Hmm..." Dora pressed Carrie's lips together thoughtfully and as she did so, they seemingly thinned. Carrie frowned. It looked...strange...

"And...and my chin's too square." the muggle went on, watching the face lengthen and become more pointy. "And I...I don't like my freckles, and...my nose looks too narrow..." She watched in awed silence as Dora's face carefully shifted and changed, before the Auror straightened up and summoned her husband from the kitchen.

"Who's the prettiest?" Dora asked, throwing an arm around Carrie's shoulders and turning her to face the werewolf, who eyed them both with a raised eyebrow.

"You look sickly." Remus informed his wife with a frown. "Your face is too thin and pale..."

"Exactly!" Dora agreed, giving Carrie's shoulder a reassuring squeeze, only for them both to jump at the sound of a loud popping noise as Teddy appeared at the bottom of the stairs.

"Theodore!" both parents immediately snapped, but their son, now dressed in pale brown corded trousers and a nearly ironed open neck shirt with sandy blonde hair to match, merely grinned broadly at them, only for the smile to falter somewhat at the sight of his mother's latest face.

"That's a little bit creepy, Mum." he informed her as he reached into his pocket and drew out his wand, giving it a flick and causing a tan leather jacket to unhook itself from where it hung and levitate across the room towards him. As he caught the garment in his free hand he said: "It's like Carrie with anorexia or something."

"There you have it." Dora concluded, and with a toss of the head her long chestnut hair had darkened to a shiny shade of blue, face shifting back to it's usual heart shape and eyes darkening to their twinkling selves. "D'you need to borrow a coat, Carrie love?"

Carrie wasn't really sure how to answer this question, for she was not entirely sure what was going on.

"She does." Teddy supplied helpfully as he shrugged on his jacket, and before Dora could say another word he offered: "I'll get one!"

And then he once again disapparated with a crack, eliciting yet another shout of disapproval from his parents.

Once she had retrieved her shoes and Teddy had presented her with a denim jacket that he had discovered in his mother's wardrobe, Carrie found herself being led by the arm out of the house, a handful of Remus' coins and a ten pound note jingling cheerfully in Teddy's pocket.

"Where are we going?" she asked as they crunched their way down the gravel driveway, his grip upon her arm tightening as she wobbled in her heels.

"I'm taking you out for dinner." Teddy announced cheerfully, offering her a broad grin.

Carrie felt her cheeks warming in embarrassment.

"Because your dad feels sorry for me and reckons I need cheering up?" she guessed, wincing at the thought, only for her best friend to turn to present her with a mildly offended look.

"Of course not!" the young wizard exclaimed as they turned right up the road, heading for the middle of town. "I'm taking you out for dinner, Miss Winters, because you're wearing a very pretty dress and looking particularly stunning this evening. We mustn't let all that lip gloss and hairspray go to waste!"

Carrie felt a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.

"Maybe, but your dad's making you do it. He flooed and told you to come home..."

"He suggested I come home. There's a difference. Besides, who doesn't want an opportunity for some free ice cream? You will have ice cream for dessert, won't you? So we can ask for two spoons?"

Carrie sniggered as they crossed over the road and around the corner.

"Of course I will." she agreed, sniggering yet again when Teddy exclaimed:

"Brilliant!"

They walked for several minutes without speaking, and after a while Teddy began to whistle a tune that Carrie recognized but could not quite place. Carrie's mind began to wander back to what Remus had said to her in the kitchen some while earlier, and she smiled at the thought that she had a friend as good as Teddy.

Remus was right. Who cared what Austin thought of her, when she had Teddy instead?

As a friend, of course. Nothing more...

_He fancies you, you know._ That had been Cleo's observation the previous Christmas when the two girls had bumped into Teddy outside of Carrie's house whilst on their way to a Christmas gathering at Cleo's aunt's house. Teddy had given Carrie a one armed hug as they passed and commented that she looked beautiful. Cleo had immediately jumped to the wrong conclusion, and Carrie had been quick to point this out to her.

_Teddy tells everybody they look nice_, she'd explained, and Cleo had given a snort and said:

_Well he didn't tell me. And you're blushing, did you know?_

Carrie was sure that Cleo was a special case, for she often heard Teddy complimenting people on their appearance. And after all, he couldn't possibly fancy his best friend...could he?

As she glanced sideways at the tall young man beside her, Carrie pursed her lips together thoughtfully at the recollection that there did seem to be a few words that he kept reserved for her. She'd never heard him refer to anybody else as beautiful or stunning, not even Victoire Weasley, which was surprising because not only was Victoire Teddy's girlfriend, she was also undoubtedly the most beautiful girl that Carrie had ever lain eyes upon.

The beautiful Victoire was the other reason that Cleo's theory was so deeply, deeply flawed. How on earth Teddy could fancy anybody else on the planet whilst the silvery blonde sixteen year old was around was beyond comprehension. In fact Carrie didn't even know why she was giving any of this a moment's thought.

She seemed to be giving it more and more thought, lately. It worried her.

Because Carrie Winters was becoming increasingly certain that something utterly dreadful and unthinkable was happening.

She was falling in love with her best friend in the whole entire world.

But that was all they were. Best friends. And it had been that way for so long that she could not imagine them being anything else besides that.


	2. Getting It Right

_Note: I would just like to say how delighted I was today to receive so many lovely reviews for this new story! Thank you to my loyal reviewers who have stuck with Carrie ever since she first sat sulking in the back of her parents' car when they arrived at their new home! And thank you to those new faces who have joined in the fun now! Welcome! I hope you all continue to enjoy Carrie's escapades with the Lupins and the rest of the Wizarding World! _

_I am actually rather apprehensive about posting this chapter...it's been a long time coming and there are probably some rather big expectations for it out there...I hope it meets them at the very least!_

_As promised, I am posting the pre-written chapers once a day! So, here is the next one!_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter._

**2: Getting It Right**

As she reached to pick up her fork, offering the waitress a grateful glance for the fresh glassful of lemonade, Carrie Winters felt her cheeks warm to find Teddy Lupin sat opposite her, the table before him void of any food at all.

"So..." she mumbled, as the wizard reached to steal a sip of her lemonade. "What's been going on with you and the others? I've barely spoken to your parents since Christmas, your mum's always at work and I hardly ever caught sight of your dad in the garden."

Teddy set the cool glass back down upon the table, smiling widely.

"Well," he said, as she set about eating the mountain of spaghetti upon her plate, "Just after Christmas, Harry came over to have a word with Dad, and he said that now Lily and the boys are older, Ginny had decided that she'd like to go back to work part-time. But of course all three of them still need schooling, so Harry asked if Dad would do it, if they paid him every month. So that's what he does, every Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, and sometimes on Fridays if Ginny works extra hours."

Carrie sniggered through a mouthful of tomato sauce.

"That must drive him utterly insane." she said, snatching up a napkin so that she could dab at her mouth, and Teddy sniggered too.

"Maybe, but not quite as much as sitting around and doing nothing." He paused to examine the dessert menu, no doubt in search of the list of ice cream, only to abandon it when Carrie asked:

"What about your mum? What's she been doing? She was pretty mad when she got in earlier, something about a...petition or something."

Teddy's expression darkened considerably as he fiddled with the menu, and Carrie found herself leaning forward towards him, her curiosity rocketing.

"There's big trouble at the Ministry, apparently. Mum's absolutely livid about the whole business, says she'd like to march into that courtroom and give the Wizengamot a piece of her mind. But Harry says she should keep her mouth shut, just in case."

"In case of what?" Carrie asked, fork hovering midway to her mouth as she leant further forward still, and Teddy frowned deeply, shaking his head.

"Merlin knows. I overheard Mum telling Dad what Harry had said...Dad said it was about time somebody stopped keeping their mouth shut and stood up for what's right. Mum said: Well that's all very well and good, but you're not the one whose job would end up on the line. Then Dad said: You got yourself in a whole lot more trouble for the Order during the War, they sacked you then and you got your job back. Then Mum went a bit mental and started shouting. She said we don't have the savings for her to lose her job, especially over bloody politics. Dad said the War had a whole lot to do with politics, but Mum said it had a whole lot more to do with Voldemort going around murdering innocents. Then Dad said: Well who's to say the Ministry won't end up doing the same? And Mum said..."

"What?" Carrie interrupted, holding up a hand to silence him. "Did...did you just say the Ministry might start MURDERING PEOPLE?"

Teddy let out a rather strained chuckle, one hand reaching reassuringly for her arm.

"Don't be ridiculous Carrie..." he mumbled, and Carrie dropped her fork down upon her plate with a clatter.

"But you just said that your dad said...!"

"Well he didn't mean it, I'm sure. Not like that, anyway..."

"What other way could he possibly have meant it? Why would...why would he say something so terrible? What's happening at the Ministry?"

Teddy sighed heavily, reaching to run a hand through his sandy brown hair.

"The people who've been getting elected to the Wizengamot this past year..." he said slowly, reluctant to explain. "They're...not all the sort of people that...well, that we'd want to be making decisions for us. After the War, when Kingsley got elected as Minister, the entire Wizengamot was re-elected, all the extremists and pure blood fanatics got kicked out. After what had happened to the muggle borns, people didn't want them in power anymore. But ever since the Queenswood Incident there's been growing support for the old way of thinking. People started campaigning for a change in the law, and they've gotten a lot of support, got themselves elected to the Wizengamot. Nobody was worried at first, but the mood inside the Ministry's growing steadily darker, Mum says there are enough of those nutcases in office to threaten Kingsley's reforms. They've got a petition going, they'll have enough signatures to hold a debate soon enough. The Heads and Deputies of departments get a vote, Mum says she's already been offered fifty galleons to support them...but of course she told them to take their gold and choke on it."

"Do you think they'll win?" Carrie asked, frowning deeply, and Teddy gave a shrug.

"It'll be a close thing, Harry says, but with any luck there are enough people with sense to stop this nonsense in it's tracks."

"What was the Queenswood Incident?" Carrie wondered, reaching for her lemonade, only to pause when Teddy's gaze dropped to the table between them and he gave a hurried shrug.

"I um...I don't really know much about it..." he mumbled, reaching to scratch the back of his neck.

"Well, what do you know about it?" Carrie asked, frowning deeply at his sudden squirming.

"Some...some people died or something...I don't really know...have you finished with your spaghetti?"

Despite having only cleared half of her plate, Carrie nodded, for she suddenly didn't feel very hungry. She was about to mumble that she didn't fancy ice cream either, but apparently Teddy had already known this for he stopped a passing waiter to ask for the bill.

It was very rare indeed for Teddy to be so reluctant to tell Carrie anything, the muggle mused as she watched the wizard fumble with the money that he had in his pocket with a deep frown upon his face. He had confessed all number of difficult things to her over the years: his father's lycanthropy, his family's precarious finances as they slowly paid off Remus' numerous debts, the horrors of both Wizarding Wars that had left deep scars upon his friends and family. And yet here was something, Carrie was sure, that he could not bring himself to explain. The very notion of such a thing was deeply unsettling.

_I'll ask Remus_, she thought as the bill was set down upon the table. Then once Teddy had paid and they had headed for the door, Carrie did her best to put the whole sorry situation out of her mind.

As they wandered at a leisurely pace back towards home, talk turned to Austin and Melanie Bloody Porter, as Carrie relayed the whole awful scenario to Teddy, who made all the appropriate exclamations and damning utterances in such a way that by the time they were halfway home Carrie was feeling much better about what had happened.

"You know, I almost feel sorry for him." the young wizard said as they rounded a corner to walk along past a long row of terrace houses. "I'd not mess with you, not with Cleo around. She'd batter me!"

As she paused to kick a stray pebble along the pavement, Carrie grinned broadly. She wondered just how wise it had been of her to leave Cleo alone and within striking distance of Austin's face. As much as she hated the boy, he probably didn't deserve to have Hurricane Cleo descend upon him in a crowded room full of his classmates. Really, the local hospital's Accident and Emergency department didn't need the extra drama. Cleo Clancy had an explosive temper at the best of times, Carrie dreaded to think what might have occurred once she had left the party.

As it turned out, however, Carrie needn't have worried about Austin and Cleo, as at that moment she heard a shriek of laughter, and she glanced across the street to spot a couple of distinctly tipsy looking teenagers staggering along the street towards her.

Melanie Bloody Porter appeared to be having trouble walking unaided, for she had one arm wrapped in a stranglehold around Austin's neck, free hand pawing at the front of his t-shirt as she giggled hysterically at her teetering walk. Carrie's ex-boyfriend didn't seem to mind the attention, indeed he seemed to be enjoying it. A lot.

Carrie ducked her head and stared determinedly at the pavement, stock still in the vain hope that they wouldn't spot her, but when she dared a glance upwards the pair had paused in their stumbling mess of hands and kisses to stare at her.

Carrie stared back, drawing in a deep, calming breath.

She'd show them, she thought furiously, standing straight and attempting to plaster a I'm-Not-Bothered sort of look upon her face. She'd show them she didn't care, that they hadn't humiliated her, that she just didn't give a damn...

And that was when she felt Teddy's hand upon her arm, and as he gave her a gentle tug to get her attention, an idea struck Carrie Winters like a beater's bat to the head.

"C'mon Carrie, ignore them..." Teddy murmured, but Carrie didn't hear him.

Instead, Carrie Winters turned on her heel to face Teddy Lupin, and without pausing for thought, threw her arms around his neck. And then, hopefully to the spectators' utter shock, she leant forward to kiss him.

Only for a firm pair of hands upon her shoulders to halt her in her tracks.

"Carrie don't!"

Laughter. Howling laughter. It was wringing in her ears...

"What's wrong with you?"

As she felt Teddy leap backwards, as if she had burnt him, Carrie wondered if that had been exactly what she had done, for she could feel herself burning with complete and utter humiliation.

It was a good question, she thought numbly as she stared despairingly up at Teddy's wide-eyed expression. What on earth was wrong with her?

Had she really just attempted to kiss her best friend? To get back at Austin and the Stick Insect?

Surely not...surely she wouldn't be that silly, that petty...

Teddy turned his back on her, one hand reaching to grasp at his hair as he hunched his shoulders.

She had been that silly, that petty. She really had...

Oh God...

As the laughter began to fade as the spectators staggered on up the street, Carrie attempted to take a few deep breaths. Her heart was hammering in her chest and her head was swimming. Her stomach twisted into knots and the minutes seemed to drag on for an eternity as she stared helplessly at the back of Teddy's head. She wanted to say something, to try to explain or apologize, but the words seemed too muddled, they were sticking in her throat...

At long last, Teddy turned back to face her, lips pressed together into a firm line.

"Come on," he muttered, reaching to grab hold of her by the elbow, and Carrie felt panicked tears begin to seep from her eyes as she found herself marched on up the street.

It was not until they had turned onto their own street that Carrie finally managed to find her voice, and she attempted to slow their rushed pace a little so that she could look up at him, but he refused to slow down.

"L...listen, Ted..." the muggle mumbled with a sniff, as the wizard stared determinedly up the road ahead of them. "I...I...that was stupid of me, I know, it was the most stupid thing in the whole entire world! I'm...I'm sorry, I...I didn't mean to...to upset you! Let's just...let's just pretend it didn't happen..."

"It's not meant to be like this." Teddy muttered darkly, his grip upon her beginning to make her elbow ache, and Carrie hastily nodded her agreement.

"No, you're right...you're right it...it wasn't meant to happen. It...it won't happen again, I promise! It doesn't have to...to ruin anything, it was just...just something stupid that I did. I do stupid things all the time, don't I? It's just...just another one of those stupid things, and...well...I..."

"Stop it. Stop talking."

"O...okay..."

Carrie managed to remain silent for a good few minutes, and was quite relieved when they reached their houses so that she could run to her bedroom and hide under her duvet for the rest of eternity, but when she made to stop at the end of the driveway, Teddy carried on walking, dragging her after him.

"Teddy, home's just...just back there..."

"I know."

"Well...well I want to...to go home..."

"Not yet."

"But...where are we going?"

Teddy ignored her.

They walked to the end of the street and rounded the corner, before crossing the road onto the small patch of grass upon which was set a tall tree, from which many years previously some local children had hung a make-shift swing. It was, Carrie recalled, something of a special spot as far as she and Teddy were concerned, for it was whilst sat upon that very swing that eleven year old Caroline Winters had first seen Teddy Lupin's hair change colour, revealing to her the existence of magic. It had been a pivotal moment in the young muggle's life, though she had ruined it somewhat by falling backwards off the swing in surprise. Teddy claimed that she'd knocked half of the sense out of her that day, and had been a little silly ever since.

Seventeen year old Carrie felt an odd sense of apprehension when she found herself deposited upon the swing for a second time, and she stared silently up at the young wizard as he stood before her, hands shoved deep into his pockets as he rocked back on his heels in a distinctly nervous fashion. After what seemed to be a couple of decades, Teddy cleared his throat meaningfully and drew in a deep breath.

"Listen Carrie," the metamorphmagus said, as she stared up at him, cheeks pink in embarrassment. "What happened, just now...it was awful. Absolutely awful."

"Ted, I..."

"No, don't say anything. It was horrible. And I don't care if I embarrassed you in front of Austin and Melanie, I don't give a damn because...because, well...I won't let you ruin things. I won't let you get...get us wrong. We're much too important to me."

"I'm sorry, Ted." Carrie whispered, biting her lip guiltily at the look on his face, and he sighed heavily, shaking his head.

"We weren't supposed to get it wrong." he complained, reaching to scratch the back of his neck with a deep frown. "I wanted us to be...perfect."

Carrie felt guilt twist at her insides. For years, she had prided herself on the fact that she had a best friend, somebody who she knew would be there for her for the rest of her life. Somebody who she could joke with, have fun with, without it all being complicated. And the cracks had started to appear recently, she'd begun to realise that she thought him handsome, that she'd perhaps like something more. But that hadn't been the plan. She'd known that...

But now she'd gone and done this...

She'd broken the unspoken rules of friendship. And Teddy was right, they were supposed to be proper friends, not anything else.

Victoire was his girlfriend. Carrie was his best friend. That was the way it was, it couldn't possibly be anything different.

"First kisses aren't meant to be so...so insignificant and...and meaningless! They're supposed to be special and...well..."

Carrie blinked.

What did he just say?

"I...I wanted it to be a...a proper kiss, not just...not just some stunt to piss off your ex-boyfriend, and..."

"Teddy?"

"...and I know I'm probably being silly but...well..."

"Teddy?"

"Well I...I don't know what to do now...I mean..."

"TEDDY!"

At long last, Teddy halted in his babbling. His hair appeared to have become a muddled mess of red and mousy brown. Carrie gaped at him for a moment, before managing to squeak:

"What on earth are you talking about?"

Teddy shuffled his feet in embarrassment, eyes upon his shoes.

"What did you think we were talking about?" he mumbled, and Carrie's brow creased in bemusement.

"I thought...I thought we were talking about how I'd just ruined us being best friends." she explained, reaching to push a stray strand of hair behind one ear.

The wizard blushed furiously as he mumbled:

"Oh...right..."

There was a long, awkward silence as both teenagers silently wished that the ground would open up and swallow them, before Carrie cleared her throat in an attempt to force herself to speak.

"You um...you're dating Victoire." she pointed out, only for Teddy's gaze to snap up to look at her with a look of utter bemusement.

"What?"

"I saw you kiss her in your back garden...at Easter."

Teddy took a small step backwards, expression utterly appalled.

"I'm not dating VICTOIRE!" he cried, as if she had just accused him of stealing a baby's rattle, and Carrie felt yet more confused than ever. Why on earth he was so utterly offended by this notion was entirely beyond her. She was pretty sure that there were boys out there who would cut of their own arm to date a girl like Victoire Weasley.

"Oh...right." the muggle mumbled. "Sorry...I just thought, well, you know..."

"Just because I kissed her doesn't mean she's my girlfriend." Teddy said defensively, folding his arms firmly across his chest and positively scowling. "It should do, now I think about it, but it doesn't."

Carrie didn't really know what to say, so she chose the remain silent.

"Look," Teddy said after a moment, beginning to pace up and down in front of her. "Victoire isn't my girlfriend, she doesn't even fancy me or anything...and I don't fancy her, either. Why on earth would I fancy her? She's a bloody nutcase!"

"But you've always liked Victoire, she's your favorite cousin." Carrie reminded him as he stomped back and forth. "You always sit next to her at dinner when everybody comes round, you even brought her to my cousin Matthew's birthday party the other year..."

"Well that was before I found out that she was such a nutcase." Teddy announced, folding his arms irritably across his chest. "She's lovely and everything, don't get me wrong, I like her a lot. But...well she's so WEIRD!"

Carrie couldn't help it, she sniggered.

"Well she is a witch, Ted. They're all a bit on the weird side, wizards and witches..." she trailed off just short of telling him that he himself was one of the weirdest wizards that she had ever met, when he shot her a scowl, so instead she consenting to asking: "What's weird about her?"

"Well," Teddy said as she set the swing upon which she was sat swinging gently back and forth. "That time we were out in the garden, hiding Easter eggs, we were up the top of the garden by the tree and all of a sudden Victoire put down her box of eggs and turned to me. And she said: You know, Ted, I'm going to be sixteen this year. I suppose I might want to get a boyfriend when I go back to school. And I just said: I suppose you might, Vic, then she said: Boys might want to kiss me. Have you kissed many girls? And I told her that I kissed Emily Bones last Halloween, and she said: Are you a good kisser, Ted? So I said I didn't really know, and then...then SHE said: Would you kiss me, if I asked you to? Obviously, I said no I wouldn't, and she said she wanted me to as a favour! Because she said she was nervous about her first kiss and...and it would be better if it was with somebody she knew well or something! She said she wanted to get it over and done with so she didn't have to worry about it, and that way she wouldn't mess up the next time she had to kiss a boy...I'm telling you, Carrie, that girl is a complete and utter nutcase! What sort of normal person thinks like that?"

"But you did it." Carrie reminded him, and he reddened at the memory.

"Well yes...she wouldn't stop going on about it so I did it to shut her up. And it was stupid of me, I shouldn't have done it. I think when you kiss people you're supposed to mean it. And...and that's why I...I just thought...well, I didn't want to kiss you and have it be like it was with Victoire. I...I wanted to...mean it."

The awkwardness was back with vengeance as a horde of butterflies assaulted Carrie's stomach. As a matter of fact, she was feeling a little dizzy. She hastily dug the heels of her shoes into the grass to stop the swing from moving.

Cleo had been right about something for once.

Teddy Lupin was falling in love with his best friend.

And she was falling for him, too.

Carrie's mind boggled at this realisation, mouth falling open ever so slightly in shock.

"Well," Teddy mumbled, the tips of his multicoloured hair tinged pink. "I suppose...I suppose I've opened a can of worms here, haven't I?"

Carrie couldn't manage much more than:

"Mm..."

"That's why I came here." Teddy told her, gesturing vaguely around them with a wave of his hand. "I thought it was the right place for it."

The shock slowly beginning to dull into an oddly excited bubble in her chest, Carrie managed to smile up at him.

"I wasn't going to say anything," he went on, taking a few steps forward until their toes were almost pressed together. "Just in case, you know, you didn't...didn't feel the same. And you might not, still, but I just thought...well..." he trailed off, shrugged rather helplessly, and he looked so nervous that Carrie felt an overwhelming urge to jump to her feet and throw her arms around him.

Or tell him that she felt she same. Or even throw all caution to the wind and tell him that she loved him, that she probably always had done. But Carrie could only conclude that Teddy's firm belief that had she been a student at Hogwarts she would have been sorted into Gryffindor was entirely misguided. Because quite frankly, she didn't feel brave enough to move a muscle, let alone speak.

"You probably want to run away or something. But I'm going to kiss you anyway." Teddy informed her boldly.

Carrie swallowed the lump in her throat, desperate to find her voice, to say something, anything that might make him realise that she wouldn't run away, not even if he were to have poison smeared upon his lips. But he was leaning closer to her now, dark eyes staring at her so intently that the words seemed to disappear before they could form upon the tip of her tongue. He paused, as if waiting for her to jump to her feet and make a run for the hills, backing off a few inches when she sucked in a deep, determined breath. Her mind seemed sluggish, dull, but she resolutely swallowed the lump in her throat and whispered:

"I'm not going to run away."

Teddy smiled.

"Good." he murmured with a chuckle, and Carrie was about to chuckle herself when quite suddenly he leant forward, and before Carrie knew it his lips were pressed softly against her own.

Somewhere inside her head, somebody had set off an array of fireworks, and yet as her eyes fluttered closed, the muggle was torn between elation and such panic that her mind swam...

And quite suddenly she wasn't kissing Teddy anymore.

SMACK!

"Carrie!"

As a dull ache blossomed upon the back of her head, the swing from which she had fallen backwards off of swinging guiltily back and forth, Carrie Winters felt a bizarre sense of de ja vu that, oddly, made her want to laugh.

Teddy's face, framed by a shock of the brightest turquoise hair that she had ever seen, invaded her view of the cloudy sky above, his expression one of deep concern.

"Are you alright?" he asked, face looming closer as he dropped down to crouch beside her. "I tried to grab hold of you, but I missed...here, sit up."

"Did I ruin it?" Carrie wondered groggily as he helped her sit up and dust the grass from her hair.

"No, of course not." he laughed, a steadying hand upon her shoulder. "It couldn't have been more perfect...not with you around, anyway."

Carrie wasn't sure whether she felt embarrassed or just terribly amused, and besides, there was something else far more crucial to consider.

"So..." she mumbled a moment later when he helped her back onto her feet, gripping her tightly by the hand as she frowned deeply at her head aching in protest. "What does that make us now, then?"

As he led her back towards home, Teddy pursed his lips together thoughtfully.

"Well," he decided once they had crossed over the road and set off around the corner onto their road. "You're still my best friend, if that helps. As for what else we are...that depends, doesn't it? On what you think, I mean..."

"Are you asking me to be your girlfriend, Mr. Lupin?"

"Do you know, Miss Winters, I do believe I am!"

"Hm...do you think your parents will approve of me?"

"It's difficult to be sure. After all, they've only known you for...over six years. Mum might be a bit gutted."

"Why do you think that?"

"Well...I can't possibly let her adopt you now, can I? I can't date my own sister. Come inside with me a moment, I'll get you something for your head."

They shuffled back into the Lupins' house to be greeted by the sound of music drifting out from the wireless in the sitting room, and as Teddy disappeared up the hallway and into the kitchen, Carrie wandered into the room to find her new boyfriend's parents sat upon the sofa, Dora sprawled lengthways across the seat, her feet in her husband's lap. He appeared to be painting her toenails a luminous shade of orange.

"Alright, Carrie love?" the pink haired witch said, gaze dropping from her absentminded examination of the ceiling as she shifted to look over at the muggle, only for Remus' grip upon her foot to tighten as he murmured:

"Stop fidgeting. Merlin, no wonder you can't do it neatly yourself..."

Dora kicked him gently in the ribs and he winced, narrowly avoiding upsetting the pot of nail polish over his lap. For a moment he looked as though he wanted to scold her again, but instead he asked Carrie:

"Did you have a nice time?"

Carrie couldn't help herself as she dropped down into the armchair opposite the fireplace.

"Your son just kissed me." he informed the couple simply, leaning forward a little in her chair in order to fully gage their reactions. Whenever she looked back on that evening, Carrie was never quite sure what it had been that she had expected them to say or do, but whatever that was, it was nothing like reality.

Remus audibly groaned.

"Great..." Carrie barely heard him mutter, only for the utterance to be drowned out by Dora's triumphant:

"HA!"

The witch scrambled up into a sitting position, holding out an expectant hand to the werewolf whose gaze had drifted to the ceiling with a sigh.

"Well?" she demanded, much to Carrie's bemusement. "Cough up, Remus! Five galleons, I'm waiting!"

Remus scowled at the ceiling.

"That's not fair..." he began as Teddy appeared in the doorway to investigate the commotion, but Dora merely laughed.

"You said after her eighteenth birthday! And guess what, love? They're SEVENTEEN! So go on, hand it over!"

Remus opened his mouth to protest, only for Teddy to interrupt them.

"Have you two been BETTING on us?" he asked incredulously, eyes as wide as snitches, and when Dora merely dissolved into laughter he folded his arms across his chest and demanded to know: "Since when?"

Remus was suddenly very interested in the contents of his pockets, and Dora showed no sign that she would stop laughing any millennia soon.

"Dad!" Teddy insisted, taking a step forward and fixing his father with the most piercing look that he could muster, and Remus finally looked up, daring to smile.

"About...three years now, I think." the werewolf offered, as his wife buried her face in his shoulder in an attempt to muffle her laughter.

"You two are UNBELIEVABLE!" Teddy informed them both, and Dora managed to bite her tongue long enough to glance up at him with a grin. "Who...who's idea was it?"

His parents pointed at one another in silence.

Teddy eyed them incredulously for a long moment before informing his mother:

"I can't find the pain relief potions. Carrie has a headache."

Dora disentangled herself from Remus' lap and got carefully to her feet before waddling awkwardly towards the door, and Teddy went to take her place upon the sofa.

"Well..." he mumbled, suddenly awkward. "Aren't you going to...say something?"

Remus offered him a raised eyebrow.

"Would you like me to say something?" he asked, and his son pursed his lips together thoughtfully before deciding:

"Not really, no."


	3. The Phoenix Day Parade

_Note: Hello again! Here is another chapter for you, though sadly this is the last of the pre-written chapters – I am about halfway through writing chapter 4, so you've caught me up already!_

_Thank you so much to all those who reviewed and told me how much they enjoyed Teddy and Carrie's first kiss! I'm glad I apparently got it right! :-)_

_And now, back to the actual plot..._

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor am I making any profit from this piece of writing._

**3: The Phoenix Day Parade **

Carrie had been so distracted that evening by the drastic change to her relationship with Teddy that come the morning she realised that she had completely forgotten to ask Remus about the Queenswood Incident. And so after breakfast, and a brief phone call to Cleo to check that she hadn't said anything too ghastly to Austin at the party, the muggle headed round to the Lupins' house again, ready to ask some questions.

When Remus answered the door, however, Carrie couldn't help but feel that now possibly wasn't a very good time. She looked the wizard up and down, taking in the immaculate black suit and tie, highly polished black shoes and velvet black cloak before wondering:

"Has somebody died?"

Stepping aside to let her in, Remus told her:

"Not exactly..."

Before he could explain any further, Dora came dashing down the stairs, a pair of pointed black ankle boots in one hand, and a scrap of materiel of some sort in the other.

"Here love," the black-clad witch declared breathlessly, holding the materiel out for Remus to take, and he accepted it with mumbled thanks. As Dora, hair today an elaborate mix of fiery shades that almost made it look as though her head were on fire, dropped down onto the bottom step and set about pulling the boots onto her feet, Carrie watched Remus unfold the material and set about slipping his hand through the middle of it. It was, the muggle soon discovered, a silk black arm band, embroidered with a golden emblem of a soaring bird rising from flames.

"Did you move my cloak?" Dora inquired, only to pause to glance up the stairs and bellow: "FIVE MINUTES, TED!"

"It's in the sitting room, I was trying to get the creases out." Remus said, reaching to straighten his own cloak with a small frown, and as Dora shuffled past, not so much as glancing at their visitor, Carrie noted that upon the witch's arm was an identical arm band.

The muggle felt rather as though she were intruding on something terribly important, she leant back against the door frame.

"Nice cloak." she mumbled, eying the bright orange lining, and Remus finished fiddling with the clasp just long enough to say:  
>"Thank you...TEDDY? IF YOU DON'T HURRY UP, WE'RE LEAVING WITHOUT YOU! We're not going to be late like last year..."<p>

Thundering footsteps announced Teddy's descent of the stairs, and Carrie looked up to see him doing battle with a black tie that appeared to have gotten itself into a tight knot.

"I'm coming, I'm coming!"

"What in Merlin's name have you done to your tie?"

"I don't know, Dad, I...DAD!"

Carrie tried her best to hide a snigger as she watched Remus seize his son by the collar and reach to yank the tie free from his grasp.

"For Merlin's sake, Ted, if you make us late..."

"Mum'll burn my chocolate frog cards. I know, you said..."

"Exactly. And what do you think this is, some sort of party? Blue hair, for Merlin's sake...!"

"Alright, alright! I can change it!"

"REMUS? THE BLOODY CLASP ON THIS CLOAK IS BUGGERED!"

"Sweet Merlin...!" the werewolf exclaimed, at last yanking the tie free from it's tangle and thrusting it into Teddy's hands. As he disappeared into the sitting room after his wife, Teddy heaved a heavy sigh, throwing the tie around his neck.

"Hi," he greeted at long last, gesturing to the living room with a tilt of the head. "Ignore them, they've gone a bit mental..."

"You're all looking very smart." Carrie observed, straightening up and smiling brightly. "No armband for you, then?"

"No," he told her as he set about doing up his tie. "That's an Order thing. I suppose you could call it a ceremonial uniform...Grandma Molly made all the cloaks and armbands years ago, for the Phoenix Day Parade."

"The what?" Carrie said, stepping forward so that she could reach to dust a spec of fluff from his cloak.

"The Phoenix Day Parade." Teddy said again, smiling broadly. "Every year, on Dumbledore's birthday, the Order march through Hogsmeade and up through the school grounds to his tomb. And then they hold a sort of memorial service...people take turns giving speeches about different things. And then they have a party. Don't listen to Dad, he's lying, it _is_ a party, they all drink too much wine and then there's some dodgy dancing and a load of talk about the Old Days. People come to Hogsmeade to watch...the marching, I mean, not the dodgy dancing..."

"Are you good at marching?" Carrie asked, and Teddy shrugged.

"Merlin knows, I've never done it. I'm not part of the Order, after all. I just watch...and keep an eye on my cousins." At this responsibility, he pulled a face and she chuckled, only for her face to fall when she mumbled:

"I wish I could come with you."

Teddy glanced thoughtfully down at the watch upon his wrist before he told her:

"I don't see why you couldn't." And with that, he grabbed hold of her by the hand and reached to fling the front door open, pausing just long enough to shout over his shoulder: "I'LL BE BACK IN A MINUTE, CARRIE'S COMING WITH US!"

Dora's shout of protest fell on deaf ears as the two teenagers made a dash for Carrie's house next door.

"You just need to put a dress on or something!" Teddy announced as Carrie hurriedly unlocked the front door and the two of them bolted into the hallway and up the stairs towards her room. "I'm sure we won't be late!"

Carrie seized the first dress that came to hand, only she wasn't sure that bright yellow was terribly appropriate.

"Go and put it on!" Teddy instructed as he made a beeline for her box of hair things, and despite eying the garment doubtfully, Carrie ran to the bathroom and hurriedly pulled it on.

Once she had reappeared, she found Teddy waiting upon the landing for her, a black hairband in his hand. She hurriedly snatched it from him, ramming it onto her head as he led the way back downstairs, pausing briefly so that she could step into a pair of suitable shoes.

They found Remus and Dora waiting impatiently in the driveway for them, and as they skidding to a halt upon the gravel, Dora rolled her eyes.

"Hair, Teddy." she instructed wearily, and as Teddy scrunched up his face, turning his hair the brightest of flaming oranges to match his mother, the witch reached to draw the wand from her pocket, glancing up and down the street to check they were alone before murmuring:

"Here, Carrie love..."

And with a wide sweep of Dora's wand, Carrie looked down to watch her dress darken to a mottled mix of burnt orange and black.

"Very pro-Order." Remus observed approvingly, and before Carrie could marvel at the sudden transformation, the werewolf had reached to lay a hand upon her shoulder, and quite suddenly she felt the sickening pull of apparation.

Hogsmeade's main street was absolutely swarming with people, and Carrie barely had the time to look around in wonder at the vast number of flaming torches that had been lit to line the route up towards the grand looking iron gates of Hogwarts School, for before she could truly recover from the dizzying sensation of apparation she found herself being ushered hurriedly up the street away from the crowds and down a nearby side road.

"Quickly now..."

"We're going, Dad."

"They'll be leaving without us!"

"Calm down, Mum, you can just tag on the end!"

"Tag on the end? What do you think this is, Ted?"

"It's not a military operation, for Merlin's sake!"

"That's what you think..."

Before Teddy could grumble disapprovingly they rounded another corner and found themselves in a narrow alleyway besides the Hog's Head, in which were clustered a huddle of people all dressed in black cloaks and sporting silk armbands. On the edge of the group, Carrie recognised Bill and Fleur Weasley turning to see the newcomers.

"Sorry, sorry!" Dora cried as she hurried forwards, shooting a distinctly accusing look at her son over her shoulder. "Somebody momentarily forgot how to tell the time! Are we all ready, then?"

"Actually," Fleur announced as the rest of the Order murmured greetings to the new arrivals. "You are not zee last to arrive."

"Excellent." Dora said, sounding very relieved. "Who's missing, then?"

"It's Kingsley." Arthur Weasley supplied from Bill's other side, and Dora's eyes widened in surprise.

"Surely not!" Remus said as Ginny Potter began to make her way to the front of the group, ushering a horde of Potter and Weasley children along in front of her. "I've never heard of Kingsley being late for anything in living memory."

"Yes, it is rather strange." a witch who Carrie had never seen before agreed as she set about adjusting the elaborate pointed hat that was perched atop her head. "I was just saying to Charlie, perhaps he's forgotten..."

"Kingsley FORGET the Phoenix Day Parade?" Dora laughed disbelievingly. "Don't be daft, Hestia, he'd never forget this, it's much too important. Besides, it's his turn to give the speech this year..."

Carrie was distracted from the discussion by the sound of Teddy groaning loudly from just behind her.

"Urgh...here we go..." she heard him mutter, only to brighten suddenly at Ginny and the children's approach as he greeted: "Hi guys!"

"TEDDY!" an excited voice shrieked, and with that a small, red-headed blur shot forward to attach itself to the front of Teddy's robes.

Teddy let out an exaggerated shout of surprise.

"Argh! It's got me!" he exclaimed in mock-horror, only for Ginny to instruct:

"Don't tug at Teddy's robes like that, Lily, you'll get them all creased."

As Lily Potter dissolved into giggles and her cousins greeted Teddy with enthusiasm, at the back of the group James and Albus Potter appeared to be squabbling.

"MUUUUM! Make him stop it!"

"Stop being such a baby, Al."

"I'm not being a baby, I just...OUCH! MUUUM!"

Their mother merely rolled her eyes.

"You will be good for Teddy and Victoire, won't you?" she asked the rabble at large, and Rose and Hugo Weasley both nodded obediently. Their aunt looked distinctly relieved. "Good." she said as she offered Teddy and Carrie an apologetic glance. "Because if you aren't...are you listening, James? If you aren't good I'll tell Uncle Remus to cancel Christmas."

James Potter paused in his tormenting of his younger brother to offer his mother a bored expression.

"Why is it, Mum," he asked as Albus took the opportunity to put his cousins Dominique and Louis between him and his brother, "that it's always Uncle Remus who gets to cancel Christmas? Why can't somebody else do it?"

"Because it's tradition and only Uncle Remus would threaten to do something so utterly ridiculous. He's a Marauder, after all." Rose Weasley told her cousin knowingly, only for James to point out:

"No, it's because Uncle Remus is too nice to actually do it. That means our parents can threaten us without having to risk missing out on some roast turkey and stuffing."

"Well then," Ginny said as she turned on her heel to make her way back towards the adults. "If that's what you think...I'll get Auntie Dora to do it."

A mortified silence descended upon the gathered children and as Lily buried her face in the front of Teddy's robes in horror, Carrie pursed her lips against laughter.

"Well we can't wait any longer!" the muggle heard Arthur Weasley complain as his daughter came to a halt beside him. "People are waiting, after all."

"But it's Kingsley turn!"

"Who's turn is it next year? We'll have to swap it around."

"It's meant to be Remus next year."

"Right, you can do it now then, Remus."

"I...don't have anything ready..."

"Make it up as you go along, then. Right...positions everybody!"

"It's awfully strange, though..."

"Yes, it is..."

"I'm sure he has his reasons..."

"Perhaps he's ill..."

"Gosh I hadn't thought of that! You don't think it's serious, do you? Because..."

"QUIET PLEASE!"

"Do you think we should send him a message?"

"You heard the man, Hestia, be quiet!"

"Oh...yes. Of course. Sorry, Remus..."

"Thank you. Let's line up, then...who's got the standard?"

"It's over here!"

Carrie watched in bemusement as a tall, flaming orange banner appeared from somewhere in the crowd and the Order members set about passing it over their heads towards Remus at the front.

She had always imagined the Order of the Phoenix to be a highly organised and disciplined sort of organization. At that precise moment, Carrie was finding it difficult to believe that these people were responsible for helping to bring about Voldemort's downfall.

But then Remus at last got hold of the banner and, planting it firmly down upon the pavement at his side, the werewolf instructed:

"Pair up!"

And within the blink of an eye, the Order of the Phoenix had gone from disorganized rabble to neatly formed regiment behind their banner.

"Wands out, please." Remus told them, and suddenly the narrow side street was flooded by the light of countless magic wands.

"C'mon guys." Teddy announced to the Potter-Weasley brood. "Let's go find a decent spot to watch from."

They found a spot close to the school gates and Carrie helped Teddy and Victoire squeeze the younger ones into gaps in the crowd so that they could get a clear view of the torch-lined road.

"You know," Teddy mused after a few minutes of waiting, purposefully turning his back on James and Dominique who seemed to be starting a disagreement of one form or another, leaving Victoire to call disapprovingly at them from her position stood with Louis, Rose, Hugo and Albus. "This is sort of like...our first date."

Carrie abandoned her examination of the witches and wizards who were lining the side of the street opposite them to offer him a smile.

"Yes...I suppose it sort of is." she agreed. She wondered why she had a sudden urge to giggle.

For a long moment, the pair simply stood, beaming at one another, before he reached to take hold of her by the hands as he asked her:

"Have I mentioned that you're looking rather stunning today, Miss Winters?"

Carrie felt her cheeks flush pink and she let out a snigger.

"I don't think you have, actually." she admitted, and his eyes widened in mock-horror as he exclaimed:

"How dreadful of me! Well then, we better start again...are you ready?"

Carrie pursed her lips together against another snigger.

"Yes." she said, and he drew in a deep, exaggerated breath, letting go of her hands so that he could gesture to her grandly.

"You look..." he began, pausing as he struggled to think of words quite extravagant enough. "Absolutely, completely and utterly, without question..."

"Teddy?"

At the sudden interruption, the young wizard seemed to deflate somewhat, hands falling to his sides as he turned to gaze down at the little girl beside him.

"What is it, Lily?" he asked rather wearily, and Carrie looked down to find the youngest Potter staring up at them with eyes as wide as snitches.

"What are you doing?" the child inquired, reaching to chew somewhat anxiously upon a nail.

"What am I doing?" Teddy repeated, offering her a raised eyebrow and at last mustering a smile. "Well...I'm standing here with you, waiting for the parade to pass..."

"What are you doing with Carrie?" Lily elaborated, expression suddenly accusing. Before Teddy could answer she demanded to know: "Why were you holding hands?"

For some reason that she couldn't quite put her finger on, Carrie felt suddenly nervous as she felt Teddy reach for her hand once again before he leant forwards towards Lily and told her:

"Because, Lils, Carrie's my girlfriend now."

For the briefest of moments Carrie's stomach twisted into a tight knot as Lily's mouth fell open in shock and she drew in a deep gasp...

And quite suddenly the little girl let out a high pitched squeal, much to the surprise of the witch stood beside her, who jumped, narrowly avoiding dropping her handbag.

"VIC! ROSE! DOMINIQUE!"

"Oh Merlin, here we go." Teddy sniggered as the girl made a beeline for her female cousins, one hand pointing back over her shoulder.

"Teddy has a GIRLFRIEND!"

"He what?"

"Who?"

"How exciting!"

"IT'S CARRIE. THEY WERE HOLDING HANDS!"

"Alright, Lily, stop shouting now..."

"BUT IT'S TRUE, VICTOIRE! I SAW THEM!"

"I'm sure you did and it's all very exciting, but..."

"Urgh...do you stick your tongues down each others throats, Ted?"

"JAMES!"

"I'm just saying...that's disgusting..."

"James Potter you are the most immature and..."

"Alright Rose, don't get your knickers in a twist..."

The surrounding people were beginning to mutter disapprovingly to one another and Victoire shot Teddy a pleading look over the tops of the younger children's heads and with a heavy sigh Teddy announced:

"ALRIGHT GUYS, EVERYBODY SHUT UP OTHERWISE AUNTIE DORA'S GOING TO CANCEL CHRISTMAS!"

The children all fell instantly silent, only for Albus to suddenly cry:

"They're coming! Look!"

And then the shouting was renewed with fresh vigour, only for the surrounding crowd to join in too. Out of nowhere, countless children produced bright orange handkerchiefs and began waving them wildly in the air, whilst adults shot an array of crackling sparks up into the sky from their wands. As the Order of the Phoenix marched slowly past, Carrie could just about make out a number of banners in the crowd. An elderly witch with a shock of long white hair was proudly waving a large sign that read: Long Live Our Heroes, a little to her right a mother was helping her young son hold up a banner reading: RIP Albus Dumbledore and beside them Carrie spotted a tall man who she had once spotted at a garden party at the Lupins' house one summer. Stood amongst his four children, his sign boldly declared: Hogwarts Students of 1994 Say Bring Back Professor Lupin!

"Have you seen that?" Carrie shouted to Teddy, pointing over at the banner, and Teddy grinned widely.

"Seamus' been showing that banner every year since the first parade, him and a few others that is. They reckon their children are missing out."

"Why doesn't anybody listen to them? Surely loads of the people who are parents now were taught by your dad?"

"Merlin knows, the Headmistress has always been all for it but the governors won't even consider it. They seem to reckon employing Dad was one of Dumbledore's more ridiculous ideas..." Teddy trailed off as he set about waving frantically to his parents. As she joined in, whistling as loudly as she could manage, Carrie spotted yet another banner, this time held by a bunch of distinctly rowdy looking teenagers:

That's Right, Voldemort, This Would Be Us Rubbing Your Nose In It, If You'd Had One.

"Ted! Ted look at that one!" Carrie exclaimed, and after just a brief glance Teddy had dissolved into laughter, just as a loud voice from a loudspeaker that Carrie couldn't spot no matter how hard she looked announced:

"Good morning, Ladies, Gentlemen and children and what a good morning it is, too! The sun's come out just in time for this, the seventeenth Annual Phoenix Day Parade! I am told that today the Order of the Phoenix have elected Minist...what? Oh, right, right...today the Order have elected Mr. Remus Lupin as standard bearer and chief speaker, Mr. Charlie Weasley is in charge of the drums once again and I can hear them now, yes, here they come! I expect you're all dying to catch a glimpse of Mrs. Dora Lupin's hair and it won't be long now, she'll likely be second in line after her husband today. Once again this year the betting pools have been inundated with players, we've raised a great sum of money and yesterday Mrs. Lupin informed us that the Order's charity of choice will be St. Mungo's Hospital! What a worthy cause! St. Mungo's is of course a place that is very important to the Order – the healers there no doubt patched up a member or two during the War and it is of course where members Frank and Alice Longbottom are currently being cared for...what talented and brilliant Aurors they were, their son Neville, who is marching today, must be incredibly proud of them...we all are! So, back to Mrs. Lupin's hair...last year she went for something extreme, I don't think I've ever seen hair that long before...so this year the bookies are expecting something a lot shorter...indeed Mr. Oliver Wood has bet thirty galleons that she will have no hair at all! That would be a new one, we've never seen that before...good luck to you, Mr. Wood! And here they are at last! Mr. Lupin of course leading the way, he is taking the place of Minister Shacklebolt this morning. The Bring Back Lupin campaigners have turned out in force once again this year...are you listening, governors? Behind him is of course Mr. Harry Potter! The Boy Who Lived! I've heard the face painting tent are doing lightening bolt scars, children, so don't miss out on that...and next to Mr. Potter is Mrs. Lupin and...YES! That looks distinctly short to me! Choppy...very nice, very nice indeed...especially for whoever betted it would be that way! And behind our Head and Deputy Head of Aurors is Mr. Potter's wife Ginny and her brother Mr. Charlie Weasley with the drum! And boy can he play that drum...they're all multi-talented, these war heroes...next come Mr. Ronald Weasley and his wife Hermione! Best friends of Mr. Potter, they're all family now! It's good to see Mrs. Weasley back, she stayed at home last year to look after their son Hugo who was poorly...and next is...yes, that's Mr. Bill Weasley and Mrs. Fleur Weasley...goodness look at that hair, isn't that stunning? And next we have Mr. Rubeus Hagrid! Mr. Hagrid is well known to most of us who have passed through Hogwarts in recent years. What most people don't know is that he did some work with the giants during the war...bravo Mr. Hagrid! Now...that's Miss Hestia Jones and Hogwarts' Headmistress, Professor Minerva McGonnogal...best behaviour now, boys and girls! Take a good look, Ladies and Gentlemen, you'll not see so many people who've been awarded the Order of Merlin gathered in one place like this often...not even in the Wizengamot! And who's that I can see behind the Headmistress? Ah yes, Mr. Arthur Weasley and his wife Molly...the Weasleys, what a wonderful family, all active during the War of course, every last one of them..."

"Come on everybody!" Victoire called as the end of the procession appeared around the corner. "Before it gets too busy!"

And with that, Teddy seized both Carrie and Lily by the hand and set about ushering the others along the edge of the road and towards the gates of Hogwarts.

As they passed under the gates and were forced to break out into a jog to keep up with the children as they ran and skipped up the vast gravel path beside the marching Order members, it suddenly occurred to Carrie that something quite magical was about to happen.

Carrie Winters was going to see Hogwarts.

She immediately stopped staring at the Order of the Phoenix and looked up.

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was even more vast and impressive than Carrie had ever dreamed, it's countless turrets rising up towards the sky, from which today were flying a mixture of black and orange flags, the Order's golden phoenix glittering from the centre of each one. As she stared in awe at the castle, Carrie numbly wondered just how many windows there were, how many rooms, how many staircases...

And the grounds...the grounds...! The lawns seemed to stretch from miles, to the enormous lake one side that glittered in the sunlight to the tall stands and goals of the Quidditch pitch on another, sprawling forest all around...

It was without doubt the most brilliant, the most extraordinary, the most magical place that the muggle had ever seen.

For the first time in several years, Carrie's intense longing to be a witch and attend Hogwarts returned with vengeance. She felt a sinking, distinctly jealous feeling in her stomach and she mused that it was probably lucky that the Lupins had never invited her to attend the Phoenix Day parade before now. If she'd laid eyes upon Hogwarts a few years earlier she was pretty sure that she would never have listened to a word that Remus and Dora told her about being happy to be whoever and whatever she was. The longing would have been like cotton wool in her ears.

The Order came to a halt around a solitary tomb of white marble, the final resting place of Albus Dumbledore, and there they waited as the watching crowds streaming up through the gates and up through the grounds after them. There were a few murmured observations about the good turn out that year and whether or not Remus had managed to compose an entire speech in the short march from the Hog's Head to the tomb, though the atmosphere had grown serious and somewhat sombre compared to the excitement back at the start of the parade.

"What are you going to say?" Carrie heard Harry Potter ask Remus in an undertone, and the werewolf leant heavily upon the flag he was still holding, gazing thoughtfully at the gathering crowd in front of them.

"Something...different." he mumbled, nodding slowly to himself.

"Remember, James," Carrie heard Teddy warn from beside her. "No calling out or silly interruptions during Uncle Remus' speech, alright?"

James Potter offered his eldest almost-cousin an incredulous look.

"What do you take me for, Ted? As if I would do something like that!"

"Just make sure you don't...or else."

"Or else Auntie Dora will cancel Christmas, yes, I know..."

"No, or else you're going to ruin the entire parade. You don't want that on your conscious, trust me."

James looked thoughtful for a brief moment before a wicked grin spread across his face.

"That's true." he agreed, before telling Carrie: "Never piss off the Order of the Phoenix. It'll end badly for you."

"Language, James! And don't be so daft." Victoire muttered with a toss of her head. "You make them sound like a bunch of vigilantes or something! Besides, it's a retired organization..."

She was interrupted by the sudden sound of Remus' magically amplified voice requesting quiet, and Carrie turned to find him stood upon a conjured platform, gazing somewhat calculatingly around the vast waiting crowd.

There was a long silence before the werewolf finally drew in an extremely audible breath and began to speak.

"Good morning to you all," he greeted, voice grave and serious to match his attire. "First of all I would just like to say that it is truly wonderful to see so many of you gathered here today, joining us in our remembrance of those who we have lost...and indeed our celebrations of those who were saved. As you probably know, Minister Shacklebolt was due to lead the parade and speak this morning, unfortunately he has found himself unable to be with us. I've had just this short march to decide what I am going to say to you all...my first thought was usually we spend a lot of time talking of victory, of how grateful we are to live in a new and better world. And I am glad, unspeakably so, that we no longer have to live in fear, that Voldemort and his followers are fallen, that I have had the opportunity to raise my son in a society that is not governed by extremist and suffocating policies. I am glad that he does not awake each morning, as so many of us once did, wondering if he and his loved ones will survive to see the sun set that evening. I've always thought this day to be important for the Wizarding community, it is only right that we take the time to be thankful. However, this is the seventeenth parade that we have held here in Hogsmeade and at Hogwarts...and I can't help but feel that this...this new and improved society that we have created is already under threat, from a whole range of different problems and issues, be they political or social. And so I would like to take the time today to remind you all that though I wish you all the joy and happiness that a day like today can bring, me standing here and telling you to be proud is no reason for us to become complacent. Just because we celebrate our new, fairer society every year doesn't mean it will stay new and fair forever after. It is important that we be aware of changes and developments in the world around us, so that we may continue to move forward and not slip back into the old ways. Unfortunately we are doing so as I speak..."

"Remus..." Carrie heard Harry murmur warningly, and beside him Dora pursed her lips together, her expression an odd mix of disapproval and admiration as her husband announced:

"I am of course referring to the Ministry of Magic's plans to reform the Statute of Secrecy." Remus paused for a long moment, as if reconsidering his decision to bring up what Carrie could only assume was a controversial issue, and he gazed around at the crowd, lingering upon an eager looking wizard who was clutching a large camera, the witch beside him poised with quill pen above notepad.

And then he turned his attention to the Potter-Weasley brood and Carrie was somewhat surprised when his gaze finally came to rest upon the muggle herself.

Carrie smiled uncertainly and offered him a vague wave with her free hand.

To her deepest embarrassment, Remus waved back.

Countless pairs of eyes suddenly turned to look at her, and Carrie felt herself blush scarlet as people craned their necks to look at her. Her grip upon Teddy's hand tightened, only for Remus to call:

"Come up here, Carrie."

Carrie turned to offer Teddy a wide-eyed, pleading look, and with a raised eyebrow he set about leading her through the crowd towards the speaker's stand.

"As you know, this desire for reform," Remus went on as if there had been no disturbance at all, "has stemmed from the terrible events that occurred in Queenswood..."

At the mention of the Queenswood Incident, a grim murmur ran through the crowd as Carrie and Teddy came to a halt beside Harry and Dora.

"Now, I have absolutely no wish to...to pretend that what happened that day was anything short of a tragedy." Remus said as Dora reached to pass a wary hand across her face. "But be that as it may, the proposed reforms that will be debated in the Wizengamot in just a few days time are completely unreasonable and unacceptable! In this new, fairer society that we have created, blood purity and the persecution of muggle born witches and wizards is deemed radical and extremist! Views like that are not tolerated! But who are the Ministry of Magic to tell us that the total segregation of muggles is any different? Who are they to tell us that...that we can't marry muggles, that our children cannot play with muggle children, or that we must cut ourselves off from muggles entirely? Is that not equally as extreme? Do we not deem that to be radical? Yes, the people of Queenswood were betrayed, their trust was abused by their muggle neighbours and they have died because of it! But who here cannot honestly say that muggles have not suffered in the past because a witch or wizard abused their trust? We're not saints, we interfere with muggles on a daily basis, we modify their memories, we allow them to get caught up in all sorts of trouble that they cannot possibly understand and we don't care how they feel about it because we think that we can simply fix them. I don't recall reading in the Daily Prophet how many muggle lives were lost in last month's raid by Magical Law Enforcement in Plymouth, but I happen to know that there were at least three. So yes, we have been betrayed by muggles. But we betray them too.

I live in a muggle town, I visit muggle shops, my son once attended a muggle school and I have muggle neighbours..."

Carrie felt her stomach clench nervously as without so much as a sideways glance, Remus reached over to put a firm hand upon her shoulder and before she could protest he had pulled her forward and up onto the stand beside him.

"This is Carrie." the werewolf announced, suddenly smiling cheerfully, and he gave the girl's shoulder a reassuring squeeze. "She lives next door to me. And she's a muggle."

Carrie wondered if she should wave again, but decided to simply plaster a smile across her face instead.

"Carrie is seventeen years old," Remus told the crowd as the muggle burnt scarlet in embarrassment. "I've known her since she was almost eleven...she's known about magic for six years. Now, Carrie practically lives at my house during the summer, she comes for dinner, she comes shopping with us, she takes my son to the cinema and she taught him how to use a computer. We've learnt a lot about muggles from Carrie, and in turn Carrie has learnt a lot about witches and wizards, we have learnt about one another and are far more rounded and accepting individuals because of it. Now who can honestly tell me that just because there are a few untrustworthy muggles out there, just as there are untrustworthy wizards, that I shouldn't be able to invite my son's friend to eat dinner with us, or let the two of them play exploding snap or video games? Why should the vast majority of happy, healthy relationships be ruined by one other? Why should all muggles be tarnished by a single brush? It is an unfair and unrealistic view of the world, and if we were speaking of a particular group of magical people there would be no chance that these policies would even be dreamt up, let alone considered!

So, by all means be grateful today for what we achieved by bringing about Voldemort's downfall, celebrate it and be merry. But don't for one minute think that the struggle is over. Don't think those people who made us suffer are truly gone, because they'll pick on somebody else instead. And I for one did not fight for our freedom in two wars to sit back and watch the Ministry of Magic simply take it away again! A reformed statute would be an injustice to wizards and muggles the country over, and it should not be tolerated!"

And with that, a deafening roar of approval went up from the crowd, and even from his side Carrie barely heard Remus' announcement that Harry would now read out the names of the deceased.

"So basically what you're saying is," James concluded with a wide grin as he and the other children swarmed forward towards their parents, just as Remus and Carrie vacated the stand so that Harry could take their place, "Screw the Wizengamot!" And with that, he raised an enthusiastic two fingers that made his grandmother scowl.

"James!" Molly Weasley exclaimed disapprovingly, only for Remus to tell the boy:

"Yes James, that's exactly what I'm saying."

"Cool!" the boy exclaimed, only for his father's voice to suddenly drown out Molly's exasperated sigh.

Once she had been deposited at Teddy's side, Carrie stood numbly listening to the countless names that Harry was reading from the long scroll in his hands, and the atmosphere went from bold and fierce to so sombre and mournful that it made Carrie shudder. She fixed her gaze upon Dora and Remus as they stood on Teddy's other side, for their expressions remained calm, solemn masks throughout, not even flinching at their dear friend Sirius' name, and Carrie found them easy to watch. She kept her gaze averted from the Weasleys when the missing twin Fred's name was announced, though she was sure that she could hear snivelling.

Ted Tonks.

Gosh, she'd quite forgotten about Dora's father...

At the sound of his name being called, Carrie tensed on the witch's behalf and yet Dora showed no sign of woe other than her jaw tightening a little. Carrie felt relieved, though she wasn't quite sure why.

The names went on and on in a continuous morbid stream, and slowly the cracks began to show.

It all started with a finger hooked around the hem of Remus' cloak.

Carrie watched in silence as he slowly reached to pull Dora's hand free, their fingers locking together in a firm hold. Three names later, their other hands had found one another too.

Alastor Moody was the breaking point.

The two Order members seemed to slump forward, their foreheads coming to rest against the other and when Dora let out an audible sigh of despair, Remus pulled his hands free from her grasp in order to draw his cloak firmly around the pair of them. There they stood for the remainder of the list, huddled together, heads bowed and eyes firmly closed.

Carrie's mind began to wander back to Remus' speech some while earlier, and quite suddenly it all began to sink in...

The total segregation of muggles...

Don't think those people who made us suffer are truly gone, because they'll pick on somebody else instead...

Total segregation...!

What would that mean? What would happen? What would stop happening?

Carrie didn't truly care to imagine. She was more keen to recall what Teddy had told her the previous day, that it was unlikely that the law would be changed...

But what if it was?

Surely Remus would not bring it up if it were not at all likely?

What if the Wizengamot did change the law?

What if she lost the Lupins forever?

Horror-stricken at the very idea, Carrie turned stiffly around to face Teddy, eyes wide in panic. The young wizard frowned deeply, before silently reaching to pull her into a firm hug. Face buried in the front of his robes, the muggle failed to stop herself from breaking the solemn silence.  
>"Teddy?" she whispered, reaching to grasp fistfuls of robe in both hands.<p>

"Mm?" Teddy murmured questioningly into the top of her head.

"Please Ted," Carrie begged, warm tears beginning to seep from her eyes into a damp patch upon his chest. "Please don't let them take you away from me."


	4. The Lupins' Promise

_Note: Here we are again! I was so thrilled to hear from so many of you about the last chapter! Thanks so much for reviewing! _

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor am I making any profit from this piece of writing._

**4: The Lupins' Promise**

As she sat upon the steps that led up to the front entrance of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, toying absentmindedly with the bottle of still lemonade that she had in her hands, whilst watching Teddy Lupin chase a shrieking stampede of children around the lawn in front of her, Carrie Winters barely noticed the flaming haired witch sidling up next to her until Dora Lupin observed:

"Well at least somebody hasn't been trying to steal the punch! You're white as a ghost, Carrie love!"

The muggle glanced up at the witch with a fleeting smile,

"I'm alright." she lied, diverting her gaze back to Teddy just in time to see an over-excited Louis Weasley run head first into a distinctly startled looking wizard who narrowly avoided dropping his champagne glass.

"I've heard that one before." Dora told her, pausing to take a generous gulp of the alarmingly acid-green concoction that she had in her hand. Carrie turned to peer at the liquid curiously, wondering what on earth it could possibly contain to make it such a bright colour. It certainly wasn't the alcohol, though the muggle could only assume that there was a healthy dose of it in there somewhere – she'd watched Charlie Weasley go to refill his glass only a handful of times and yet his most recent staggering trip to the refreshments table had been very telling indeed.

Dora, on the other hand, appeared to be remarkably sober as she dropped down upon the steps beside the muggle, for she was observant enough to tell her:

"You're worried."

Carrie briefly considered lying, but she supposed that never got her very far where either Dora or Remus were concerned, apparently they could both read her like a book.

"Yes." she admitted, and instantly regretted doing so for the sudden urge to cry that had taken hold of her during the remembrance service returned with vengeance. She waited for Dora to say something reassuring, but instead the witch gave a snort of disapproval and muttered:

"I knew Remus shouldn't have just blurted all of that out without warning!" She seemed to realise what she'd said, for she hastily reached to pat the girl upon the arm and announced: "Don't you worry, Carrie love. There's absolutely nothing to be afraid of."

Carrie contemplated this assurance for a long moment, frowning down at her bottle of lemonade before shifting to fix Dora with a searching look as she asked:

"Am I an adult, Dora?"

The witch offered her a raised eyebrow that disappeared under her carefully sculptured blazing fringe.

"I don't know, Carrie, do you think you're an adult?"

At this question, the muggle couldn't help but feel very disappointed.

"You think I'm still a child." she observed, reaching to set the bottle down by her feet so that she could cross her arms somewhat indigently across her chest. "You both do, you and Remus!"

"Does that matter to you?" Dora asked, seemingly oblivious to Carrie's failed attempts not to sound rather offended.

"Yes!"

"Why?"

"Because! I...I'm not a child! I'm not a little girl anymore, I'm...I'm grown up!"

When Dora merely took a long sip of the acid green drink, entirely unmoved by the outburst, Carrie felt a sudden urge to scream.

The urge doubled tenfold a moment later when the witch observed:

"Well thinking you're grown up doesn't make you an adult...it makes you a _teenager_..."

"I don't think I'm grown up, I know I'm grown up!"

"Mm...same thing, Carrie love..."

"No it isn't!" Carrie paused, drawing a deep, calming breath as it occurred to her that she was on the verge of shouting and really that wasn't the most adult way to conduct a debate, it would do her reasoning no favours at all. "I'm...I'm just saying," she said, sitting up straighter. "I might not be that old, and I might not be...like you, but I'm not a little girl anymore and I'm not a naïve, clueless muggle who doesn't know anything about magic. You can't just...just pat me on the back and say everything's sunshine and daisies because...well it isn't, is it? Something major is happening, if it wasn't major Remus wouldn't have said anything, and it will affect me! So...so I think you should...you should tell me the truth!"

Dora drained her glass before leaning to set it down upon the lower step beside Carrie's bottle of lemonade. She shifted until she could better fix Carrie with a deadly serious look.

"I'm not lying to you Carrie." the witch said, reaching to push the hair from her eyes. "Yes, something major might happen, and I can't tell you quite what it would mean for you if it does, but what I can tell you is that you don't need to be worried or frightened. Remus and I won't let anything bad happen to you, I promise."

Carrie smiled somewhat uncertainly, and Dora smiled back, only for a voice to call her name. The witch turned to spot Ginny Potter striding across the grass towards them, a distinctly bemused expression upon her face.

"Tonks have you seen Harry?" the Head of Aurors' wife asked as she came to a halt before them, and both Dora and Carrie glanced around searchingly, only for Dora to conclude:

"Not since half an hour ago when I bumped into him and Hermione over by the buffet table."

Ginny reached to run a puzzled hand through her hair, sighing heavily.

"Where in Merlin's name has he got to?" she wondered aloud. "Nevermind then, I'm sure he'll show up in a minute."

"Have you checked by the lake?" Dora suggested as Carrie reached to retrieve her bottle of lemonade.

"No, that's a good idea." Ginny agreed, and with that she turned on her heel and set off through the crowd.

Carrie glanced absentmindedly around the grounds as she sipped at her lemonade. Teddy was still chasing his cousins around in front of her, though from the looks of it they were running him ragged. Somebody had set a record player down upon a small table beside the buffet table and judging from the music that was blaring out of the speakers the muggle could only assume that the dodgy dancing that Teddy had mentioned would be in full swing in no time at all, Bill and Fleur Weasley were already swaying gently in time to the music, her arms locked tightly around his neck as they murmured cheerily to one another. Off to Carrie's left, stood just under one of the castle's vast windows, she spotted Remus stood talking to a man who she had never seen before. He was dressed in a long navy cloak that looked much too warm for the summer weather.

"Who's that talking to Remus?" Carrie asked Dora, nodding in their direction, and the Auror turned to look searchingly over towards her husband.

The smile instantly faded from her face.

"I'm...not sure." she admitted darkly, and Carrie leant to peer round her so that she could get a clearer look.

"They're standing rather close together, don't you think?" Carrie said, frowning deeply, for there appeared to be precious few inches between the two men as they stood staring intently at one another as they spoke.

"Yes, they are..." Dora muttered, and quite suddenly she got abruptly to her feet and set briskly off towards the pair.

Carrie abandoned her lemonade upon the step and got up to follow at a lengthy distance.

Upon hearing Dora's approach, the cloaked man paused in whatever he was saying to glance over his shoulder at her. Carrie watched him murmur one last word to Remus, who failed to respond, before turning sharply around and striding off towards the main crowd. He seemingly misjudged his step as he passed Dora, for their shoulders collided, sending the witch stumbling backwards a step. Their eyes locked for a brief moment and Carrie heard him mutter a distinctly insincere:

"Terribly sorry."

Dora watched him disappear into the crowd, expression utterly poisonous, only for it to fade from her face as Remus appeared behind her, his arms reaching to wrap tightly around her middle.

"Making friends, are you?" Carrie heard Dora inquire dryly, and as he too stared after the man, Remus admitted:

"That isn't quite how I would describe it."

Dora turned in his arms so that she could reach to wrap her arms around his neck and the rest of their hushed conversation was quite lost to Carrie, who suddenly became distracted by a hand closing around her elbow. The muggle jumped.

"Just the person I was looking for!" Teddy announced loudly as he gave her a gentle tug around to face him, and Carrie couldn't help but feel that the sight of his beaming face, reddened from his cousins' escapades as it was, was like a breath of fresh air.

"Hi!" she greeted, the sudden tension evaporating on the spot, and he took hold of her by the hand and announced:

"Quick, they're distracted! Victoire's getting them all ice cream!"

The slipped around the side of the castle and through an archway into a small cobbled courtyard where he deposited her upon a low stone bench before drawing his wand from his pocket.

"What're you doing?" Carrie wondered, grinning up at him as he cleared his throat meaningfully, and he offered her a raised eyebrow as he said:

"Well, since this is our first sort-of-date, I think I better try and do it properly. I've been practicing this half the night, Mum and Dad weren't impressed when they came downstairs this morning and saw that the back garden appeared to have migrated into the living room, but still..."

"What on earth are you talking about?" Carrie sniggered, and the wizard cleared his throat again before giving his wand an odd little wave. A muttered word later a vibrant burst of colour shot forth, swirling before the muggle for a brief moment before settling as the brightest bunch of flowers that Carrie had ever seen. She watched with wide eyes as Teddy reached to snatch them out of the air.

"For you." he announced, sounding very pleased with himself indeed, and as she accepted the gift with a smile as bright as the flowers themselves he came to sit down beside her, beaming proudly.

"They're absolutely beautiful." Carrie mumbled, feeling her cheeks tinge pink at the gesture. Funny, she mused as she reached to examine a bright blue flower more closely, that in just one short day his gifts could make her blush. It was not the first time that he had presented her with flowers, he often sent her a bunch when it was her birthday, and the previous year she had received two dozen red roses on Valentine's Day with a cheeky note commenting that _this will have Cleo stumped!_ But she had never felt quite so overwhelmed by the gesture as she did just then.

Things had certainly changed...

It made Carrie feel rather nervous.

"Well I'm glad you like them!" Teddy told her, stretching his legs out in front of him with a contented sigh, and to her slight relief he then changed the subject, asking: "So, what do you think of Hogwarts?"

"It's...magical!" Carrie exclaimed, staring up at the towering stone castle around them, and the wizard gave a soft snort and muttered:

"Well I could have told you that..."

"Oh shut up!" the muggle muttered, reaching to slap him rebukingly upon the arm. "You know what I mean! It's...it's the most wonderful place that I've ever seen in my whole entire life!"

"I've only one year left..." Teddy mused sadly as he too gazed upwards.

"What're you going to do, after your NEWTs?" Carrie asked, and he puffed his cheeks uncertainly.

"I'm not sure..."

"Not going to go into the family business of kicking Dark Wizards' arses then?"

"What?"

"That's what James said you were going to do, that time at the Potters' barbeque last summer."

Teddy shook his head disbelievingly, but admitted:

"Well...I did think of it. Joining the Auror training scheme, that is..."

"But...?"

"But...well, it might be a bit weird. Working for my mum and my godfather. I wouldn't want people to think...well...you know, that I got in because of who I am or that I'm their favorite or something. Mum says it wouldn't be like that, if I don't pull my weight she said she'd be the first one to kick me out...but...people might think otherwise."

"You shouldn't care what people think." Carrie told him, watching as an owl swooped through the archway and up towards one of the castle turrets. "I think you'd make a brilliant Auror."

"Uncle Charlie reckons I could go out to Romania to work with the dragons, since I like animals...but then again I don't really fancy getting my hair burnt off on a regular basis. I did have one idea, though...probably a stupid one..."

"Go on."

"Well, Dad says I should try and get a job that interests me, or something that I feel is worthwhile. And...well...I figured, maybe...I might like to be a teacher."

"At Hogwarts?"

"Mm. I thought I could...teach Muggle Studies."

Carrie sniggered.

"What, and tell all your students all about how daft we are? Use me as a case study?"

"Something like that." Teddy chuckled with a shake of his head. "It's a silly idea though. Dad says McGonnogal is unlikely to employ somebody straight out of school...they like teachers who are a bit older, you know.."

"I don't think it's a silly idea." Carrie reasoned, and he gave a shrug.

"Professor Whitburn isn't going to leave any year soon, she's only been there for a couple of years."

Teddy shifted sideways to look at her as he asked: "What about you, what are you going to do after your A-Levels? Are you still going to go to University?"

Carrie reached to twirl a strand of chestnut brown hair around her finger with a deep frown.

"I don't know...my parents want me to go."

"But you don't want to?"

"Not particularly...but of course I can't tell them that. They wouldn't understand." she gave a despairing snort as she mimicked: "_You're so clever, Caroline, you're a bright girl, you could get into a top university if you really try hard...! _Well I don't feel very clever..." she trailed off with a sigh as he reached to put a comforting arm around her shoulders.

"You're not stupid, Carrie." he murmured, grip upon her shoulder tightening reassuringly. "Your parents are right, you could go and study anything you want! What about those booklets you had at your house at Easter? Have you looked through them again, seen anything interesting?"

Carrie gave a dull shrug.

"What's the point?" she mumbled, "I'd never fit in." she sighed heavily as she admitted: "Sometimes I think I don't fit in anywhere...not in my world, not in yours..."

"Don't say that!" Teddy told her sternly, reaching to prise the flowers from her hand so that he could set them down upon the bench beside him and take hold of her hands in his own. "How many times do I have to tell you? You fit in perfectly fine wherever you go!"

"No I don't, Ted. I don't fit into the magical world because it's not mine...I just dip my toe in the water every now and again and if you were to throw me in the deep end I'd sink for sure. And as for my world...my world...! It's hardly mine, is it? Half the people at college think I'm a freak!"

"That leaves a whole half who don't..."

"It's hopeless. University would be just the same...except it would be bigger...more people to think I'm away with the fairies..."

"But you're not away with the fairies, you're away with the wizards and we're just so much cooler!" When she failed to snigger at his joke, he tried again: "Come on Carrie, what d'you suppose Mum and Dad are going to say when I tell them all about this conversation? Keep this up and Dad's going to be running out of chocolate..."

At long last, Carrie managed a smile as she assured him:

"That'll never happen."

"No...you're probably right." the young wizard agreed, reaching to brush a stray strand of hair behind her ear, causing her stomach to give an uncharacteristic flutter. "Where's all this nonsense coming from then?" Before she could give a suitably vague shrug, he frowned somewhat accusingly a her and asked: "It's not Austin and Melanie, is it? Because I swear...!"

"It's not that! Really..."

"Liar. Well don't you worry, their opinions lost all credibility the moment they stumbled into that broom cupboard at the college. You needn't give a toss what they think...if Austin reckons you aren't orange enough it doesn't really matter...I can be orange enough for the both of us!"

As she watched him screw his face up until his skin had brightened to an alarmingly tomato soup coloured orange, Carrie felt her mood brightening along with him.

"You look like an Oompa Loompa!" she laughed, slumping forward so that she could stifle her amusement into his shoulder.

"A what?"

"An Oompa Loompa!"

"What in Merlin's name is that?"

"From Charlie and the Chocolate Factory...oh never mind!"

"Dad's got that book."

"He does?"

"Mm...found it under his pillow a while back...he claims he used to read it to me when I was little but I don't remember..." Teddy trailed off with a shake of the head, turning so that he could reach to ease her back from his shoulder until he could fix her with a firm look. "Look," he told her as she gazed up at him. "You bring those university booklets over in the morning, we'll have a look together and pick out some stuff. How about that?"

Carrie offered him a half-hearted smile.

"Well...okay then..."

"Great!" he exclaimed happily as if she had just agreed to go out for ice cream, and with that he reached to sweep the hair back from her face, positively beaming. There was a long, deliberating pause and Carrie was just about to attempt to think of something to say when he leaned forward to kiss her, one arm wrapping firmly around her waist, just in case she felt tempted to topple backwards for a second time.

Except Carrie Winters had absolutely no intention of toppling backwards, or any other way for that matter. She was much too busy attempting to memorize exactly what it felt like to kiss Teddy Lupin. It was difficult to memorize anything or even think straight, what with the butterflies whizzing around her stomach and the thundering of her heart and the mass of fireworks in her head, but what she did manage to muse was that Teddy was a better kisser than Austin by far. He didn't do that gross slobbery thing with his lips and she didn't feel even vaguely worried that she might chip a tooth...

As a matter of fact, kissing Teddy was in no way, shape or form even remotely similar to kissing Austin.

Kissing Teddy was, well...just as Carrie had imagined it in those dreams she had been having for the past year. Teddy's kisses were rather like Teddy himself – immensely enthusiastic and yet careful, gentle...his lips tasted of orange juice...

It was glorious. Wonderful. Utterly amazing, fantastic and...

"Teddy?"

At the sudden interruption the two teenagers sprung apart, and Carrie very nearly lost another battle with gravity, barely managing to grab hold of the edge of the bench to keep her balance. As she felt her cheeks flush with colour, she turned to join Teddy in staring over at the stone archway that led back out into the school grounds.

Remus was stood, leaning against the wall, hands shoved deep into the pockets of his robes as he stared back at them. Carrie wondered how long he had been stood there watching them...

She wasn't sure she wanted to know.

"Your grandmother's going home. She wants to say goodbye to you." the werewolf informed his son, and the younger wizard shot his girlfriend one last smile before getting to his feet. Carrie watched him stride across the courtyard, reaching to smooth his fiery hair.

"Nice one, Dad." he muttered as he passed his father, but Remus ignored him.

Alone, werewolf and muggle stared at one another for a long moment, before he straightened up and began to walk towards her. At first she thought he meant to sit beside her, but instead he carried on towards the door leading inside the castle, beckoning her to follow him with a tilt of the head.

When they reached the door, Remus drew his wand from his pocket and, with an incoherent mumble and odd, sweeping gesture Carrie heard the hefty lock upon the door open with a deep click. The door swung back upon it's hinges with a creak and without a word, Remus led the muggle inside.

They walked in silence down a long stone corridor, their footsteps echoing off the walls and ceiling. Carrie stared in wonder at the vast arched windows, the numerous doorways and immaculate suits of armour that shone in the sunlight that streamed through the glass. The muggle felt rather as though she had been transported back in time. The entire place was still but for the two of them, and for some reason Carrie felt the need to whisper as she wondered:

"Are we allowed to be in here?"

"No, it's off limits to the public." Remus told her, not bothering to whisper at all, and Carrie glanced back over her shoulder towards the door they had entered through, biting her lip.

"Oh..." she mumbled, and he glanced sideways to offer her a raised eyebrow.

"I shouldn't worry," he assured her, "nobody is going to notice. Besides, the Headmistress won't mind if..."

He was cut off by Carrie letting out a high pitched scream as she came to an abrupt halt, eyes wide in shock, and he immediately turned back to see what she was looking at.

As Carrie clamped a hand down over her mouth to stifle her shock at the pearly white apparition that had floated through the wall just ahead of them, she was taken aback to hear Remus call:

"Good Afternoon, Sir Nicolas!"

The ghost, who had come to an equally as abrupt halt as Carrie at the sound of her scream, leant forward to peer down at the visitors, his head wobbling in such a fashion that Carrie had a nasty feeling that it wasn't quite as attached as it ought to be.

"Ah!" Sir Nicolas exclaimed, voice far more jolly and less ominous than Carrie had expected. "Lupin Senior! Fancy seeing you here! It's the parade today, I suppose? Peeves has been having an awful lot of fun with those banners the Headmistress has been hanging from the windows!"

"I can just imagine." Remus agreed, as Carrie took a few steps forward, very much staring.

"And who's this then?" the ghost asked, drifting down a few meters towards the stone floor. "I don't suppose we've met, have we dear girl?" When Carrie merely stared at him, eyes still as wide as snitches his smile vanished and he murmured: "Evidently not."

"I'm afraid Carrie here isn't much accustomed to seeing ghosts." Remus explained as Carrie felt herself blushing furiously once again. "She's a muggle."

Apparently Sir Nicolas was equally as fascinated by muggles as Carrie was by ghosts, for he drifted forward towards them, staring at her eagerly.

Despite his jolly demeanor, Carrie felt somewhat unnerved. She hastily shuffled slightly closer to Remus' side.

"We're just heading for the Great Hall." Remus explained, smiling reassuringly, only for the smile to falter a little when the ghost inquired:

"Goodness, you're not hiding are you?"

"Certainly not. What makes you think that?"

"Oh nothing, nothing at all! Only Peeves was listening, you see, by the windows earlier and...well...!"

"Well?"

"Well of course none of us listen to a word Peeves has to say about anything..."

"But?"

"But...well...he caught wind of what you said out there, in front of all those people. Do you know, I think you've inspired him? To write a new rhyme, I mean..."

At that precise moment a zooming figure shot around the corner, a bright orange drape that looked remarkably similar to those Carrie had seen hanging from the castle's turret windows draped over its head as it broke out into loud, raucous song.

_Loony Loopy Lupin!_

_Whatever has he done?_

_The Marauder's crossed a border!_

_He better run, run run!_

As Peeves disappeared around another corner, cackling gleefully at his rhyme, Remus merely raised an eyebrow.

"Inspired." he murmured dryly. "No doubt about it." He offered the deeply apologetic-looking Sir Nicolas a smile before telling Carrie: "Come along then, we should get going."

As they continued on through the castle, past a number of elaborate paintings from which the inhabitants peered down at them as they passed, Carrie found herself feeling far more wary of her grand surroundings than beforehand. She kept close to Remus' side as they turned a corner and mounted a staircase.

"You'll want to avoid the eighth step." Remus announced, and no sooner had Carrie glanced sideways at him in bemusement to ask why, she suddenly found that the stone beneath her right foot seemed to have suddenly developed the consistency of treacle. She failed to suppress a shout of alarm as her entire leg sunk downwards into the step, stopping just short of her knee. Arms flailing in panic, she hastily reached to throw them around Remus' arm as he paused to turn and regard her with a distinct look of resignation.

"Don't panic." the werewolf instructed in a manner that in all honesty Carrie felt was far too casual for such a mortifying time as this. And then, to the muggle's further bemusement he gently pulled his arm free from her grasp and carefully settled himself down to sit on a step above her. "Don't struggle." he instructed calmly as she attempted to yank her leg free again. "You'll lose a shoe."

"Can't you...help?" Carrie cried, her heart beginning to pound as her struggling did little beside make her sink further.

"Just stay still." Remus insisted, reaching into the deep inside pocket of his robes and drawing out a highly polished golden pocket watch upon a chain. He observed the time with mild interest for a moment before adding: "It will let you go when it wants to."

"When it wants to?"

"Yes."

"What...is it...is it alive? Is the staircase alive?"

"In a manner of speaking...yes. And no." Remus closed the pocket watch with a click before reaching to put it away again. "It's magical." he explained, and Carrie's face contorted furiously as she muttered:

"Oh well then! It makes perfect sense now!"

"I wouldn't worry, everybody gets caught by a step or two when they are here. Once, in my fourth year, I was in such a rush to get to Transfiguration that I forgot about the one at the bottom of the Astronomy tower and I was stuck there for two and a half hours..."

"Two and a half hours?"

"Mm."

Carrie had to bite her lip against the next retort that came to mind, instead she stopped struggling and asked: "Why are we going to the Great Hall, anyway?"

Remus shrugged.

"I thought you might like to see it. I can't give you a grand tour of the entire castle, of course, but the Great Hall isn't very far away and it's probably the best room in the entire castle."

Despite her predicament, the muggle smiled.

"I'd like that." she said, gazing around at their surroundings, still utterly awed. "I never thought I'd see it...Hogwarts, I mean. I thought...all those muggle-repelling spells and...and everything..."

"They don't work on you." Remus told her, reaching to dust a spec of dirt from his immaculate attire. "They rely on ignorance, and you are very much in the know."

Carrie felt an odd swell of pride in her stomach, before she wondered:

"But what about back at home? At your house sometimes, when you have a party? You cast repellents then and...and if I look out the window into your garden it makes my eyes ache, and I can't see or hear a party at all."

"There a different types of protection...you couldn't cast the sorts of charms we use at home on a place as big and bursting full of magic as Hogwarts is. It would be impossible to maintain. Not to mention an offense. You can be fined for using those spells for too prolonged a period of time, the Ministry claim the prolonged effects on muggles' eyes can be damaging if they insist on staring for too long. They say it's anti-social...but then again that might not last." A dark look passed across the wizard's face, only for it to disappear within the blink of an eye and he suggested: "Try moving now."

Carrie gave her leg an experimental tug, only for it to come free with such ease that she very nearly lost her balance again, only for Remus' hands to shoot forward, catching hold of her forearms. As he helped her up onto the next step, she glance accusingly down at her feet for a moment, mumbling:

"Thanks."

"One skill a man must master if he is to have any hope of marrying Nymphadora Tonks," Remus recalled as he turned and continued on up the stairs. "The ability to prevent a tumble. Or the ability to fall faster enough to act as a human cushion, of course. Either one is good."

They walked halfway along one narrow corridor before opening a door onto a large landing, where a grand, sweeping marble staircase led down to the school's entrance hall. Carrie eyes the enormous double doors in awe for a long moment, but then they began their descent of the stairs and she began to stare gingerly down at her feet. The muggle made it to the bottom without incident and it was then that they turned left and through another tall pair of open doors Carrie Winters at last laid eyes upon the Great Hall of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

She dashed forwards into the vast room, coming to a halt just before one of the long house tables, staring around her in an attempt to take it all in, and as her gaze came to rest upon the sunny blue of the enchanted ceiling Carrie exclaimed:

"Sweet Merlin!"

From the doorway, Remus chuckled.

"Impressive, isn't it?" he agreed, gazing up at the ceiling himself as he wandered forwards. "Even by magical standards, I always think."

The two of them wandered up the center of the room beside the Hufflepuff table and at the very end they came to a halt again, Carrie staring up at the elaborate throne-like chair that was set behind the long teachers' table. Her attention was drawn to the floor when Remus gestured to her feet and she looked down to find herself stood upon a stone block that seemed ever so slightly darker than those around it.

"Teddy tells me," the werewolf recalled, "that the students won't stand upon that spot there, not for all the gold in Gringotts."

"Why not?" Carrie asked, frowning deeply down at her shoes.

"They say it's cursed." Remus told her. "It's the very spot that Voldemort fell. That's why it's darker than the others. They say his blood has stained the stonework."

Carrie immediately sprang backwards in horror at the thought, only for the werewolf to chuckle, leaning to stamp a foot down upon the darkened stone as he added:

"Obviously that's just a silly story made up to frighten first years."

"Oh..." Carrie attempted to chuckle herself as her face reddened again. "So...it's...not true, then?" she attempted to clarify, eying the stone warily.

"They're right about it being the spot where Voldemort fell. But as for it being cursed from his blood...well that's ridiculous. For starters, there wasn't any blood when Voldemort died, he was killed by his own spell rebounding on him. The colour of the stone is just a coincidence."

Carrie watched as he dropped into a crouch, reaching to run a hand across the smooth, cool surface, a somewhat faraway expression upon his face.

"To think," he murmured, fingers tracing the stone's edge, "that we thought this place so untouchable...even when we knew he was coming. We kept falling back, into the castle, into this room and yet there was always that thought in the back of my head...this is Hogwarts. You can't break us here. Not inside these walls. There's no place safer in the whole world than Hogwarts..." he trailed off with a shake of the head before glancing up at the watching muggle with a small smile. "But of course it wasn't Hogwarts that brought Voldemort ruin. It was people. The truth of the matter is, Carrie, that it doesn't matter where we are or where we go in the world. It's people who save us, not bricks and mortar."

"Good thing I've got you and Dora around then." Carrie told him with a bright smile as he straightened up. "To save me, I mean."

And Remus fixed her with such an intense gaze that she felt her heard begin to race before he swore:

"Always. I promise."


	5. Liars

_Note: How in Merlin's name I managed to write all of this today is a bit of a mystery to me...or perhaps not a total mystery, after all it is quite a lot shorter than previous chapters. Still, I think it was the best place to end...I hope you enjoy it!_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter._

**5: Liars**

It was evening by the time the grounds of Hogwarts began to clear of visitors, and Carrie and Teddy found themselves being ushered back towards the school gates, for Dora had to be up early for work the following morning.

"Can't we just stay for a little bit longer?" Teddy pleaded as his mother led the way across the lawn. "I mean...Harry and Ginny haven't gone home yet and Harry'll be up for work in the morning too!"

"Where's Dad gotten to?" Dora asked him as if he had not said a word, and the young metamorphmagus gave an irritated huff. Nevertheless he consented to telling her:

"He was talking to some posh looking guys in a navy blue cloaks..."

Dora came to such an abrupt halt that Teddy walked straight into the back of her. The witch spun around to face her son as he stumbled to regain his balance.

"Where?" she demanded, and Teddy gave a bemused shrug.

"I don't know...over towards the lake or something..."

The three of them turned to gaze searchingly towards the lake in question, only to spot Remus striding towards them...

Three navy-clad men hot on his heels.

"Shit." Carrie heard Dora mutter, and the muggle felt a lump form in her throat.

"Who are they, Dora?" Carrie whispered, but Dora didn't have time to reply for no sooner had she drawn breath to do so, Remus and his pursuers had come to a halt before them.

The Deputy Head of Aurors eyed the men behind her husband with such distaste that as Remus reached to take hold of her by the hand, his grip was distinctly warning.

"Evening." Dora greeted, suddenly nothing but sweet, and the trio looked somewhat taken aback as they each murmured:

"Evening, Mrs. Lupin."

"Let's be going, then." Remus suggested without so much as a backwards glance, but he had not taken more than a single step when suddenly the nearest of the navy-cloaked men reached abruptly to lay a hand upon the werewolf's arm.

Carrie felt the air catch in her throat at the small movement, and as Remus turned to face the man, the muggle stared up at the two of them apprehensively.

The man leant forward just a few inches, his thick jaw tightening as a dark look materialized upon his face. There was a sizable pause, and Carrie reached to grasp tightly hold of Teddy's hand. She watched the man wet his lips, slowly, deliberately, before he smiled thinly and murmured:

"_Thin ice_, Mr. Lupin."

Remus smiled back at him as he agreed:

"Yes indeed." And with that, the werewolf took a turn at leaning forward a few inches, his eyes uncharacteristically cold as he told the man: "I hope they can swim."

And with that, he turned on his heel and strode off towards the gates, Carrie, Teddy and Dora hurrying to keep up with him.

There was complete and utter silence the whole way home, and no sooner had they piled through the Lupins' front door and Teddy had reached to close the door behind them, Dora had reached to clamp her hands over her face, shoulders slumping as she complained:

"Remus, for the love of Merlin, I swear...!"

"Mum and I are going to bed." Remus announced, reaching to steer his wife towards the stairs. "Don't stay up for too long, Ted, you'll keep us awake and Carrie's parents will be wondering where she is."

Carrie and Teddy exchanged a long glance as the adults marched up the staircase, and as soon as they had disappeared into their bedroom, Carrie let out a breath that she hadn't known she had been holding.

"I wouldn't worry." Teddy told her as he shrugged off his cloak and went to hang it up by the door. "They can't have a proper row, it's too late at night and they'll be too tired."

Carrie sunk down to sit upon the stairs, reaching to fiddle fretfully with a stray strand of hair.

"Do you know who they were, those men?" she asked him as he kicked off his shoes.

"Nobody important." Teddy assured her with a shrug. "The Ministry probably sent them to give Dad a slap on the wrists for bad mouthing them in public like that."

"They can't do that!" Carrie muttered indigently "Whatever happened to freedom of speech?"

"Well exactly." Teddy told her as he set about relieving himself of his tie. "That's why they aren't important. They can give him a warning, but they can't do much else. I don't see why they had to sound so threatening about it, though. Let's face it, if Dad hadn't said something somebody else was bound to sooner or later!"

As she pulled the shoes from her feet with a deep frown, Carrie sighed heavily.

"I don't know what to think." she admitted as she reached to grasp hold of the bannister and pull herself back to her feet. "I'm going to the toilet." she said, and with that she turned and set off up the stairs.

On her way back to the stairs a few minutes later, Carrie paused beside the door the Teddy's parents' bedroom that stood ajar as she heard an audible sigh. The muggle shifted to peer carefully into the room, holding her breath in an attempt to be silent.

"Well," Dora said as she climbed into bed beside her husband. "This is all rather impressive, apparently you've managed to single handedly declare war upon the Ministry for Magic! Well I hope you're pleased with yourself!"

"I am." came the simple response.

The witch paused in her arranging of the duvet around her to shoot her husband a scowl.

"Well you would be, wouldn't you?"

"Don't pretend that you disapprove, Dora." Remus murmured wearily. "You were only about a day away from speaking up yourself. And it's better this way, it'll protect your job if it's me in the firing line and not you."

Dora frowned up through the dim light at the ceiling.

"I'm surprised they reacted like that." she admitted as Remus stifled a yawn into the edge of the duvet. "I didn't think they'd be so bold...I mean, in a public place like that!"

"They do seem very...confident all of a sudden." Remus agreed, and though she wasn't entirely sure who they were, Carrie felt her stomach clench nervously at the werewolf's observation.

"Hmm..." Dora mumbled sleepily, shuffling sideways until she could rest her head against his chest. As he reached to drape his arms around her, his eyes drifting closed the witch observed:

"Your heart's racing."

"Adrenaline." Remus identified. "They took me by surprise."

Dora sniggered, rising up to lean upon her elbows so that she could look down at him.

"I think you took them by surprise too." she said, reaching to run an absentminded finger down his cheek, tracing a particularly visible scar. As he slowly consented to opening his eyes to gaze up at her, she told him: "I'm proud of you."

"Don't speak so soon." Carrie heard him murmur against her lips as she leant to kiss him. "It'll be your breakfast ruined too when all the howlers from Kingsley begin to arrive in the morning!"

Carrie barely managed to stifle a snigger, but as she headed back downstairs the muggle had no idea that it would not be howlers from the Minister for Magic ruining breakfast the following morning, but something worse by far.

When the next day dawned, overcast and threatening rain, Carrie Winters had absolutely no idea that as she stumbled down the stairs, pile of university prospectuses in her arms, life as she knew it was going to change.

Of course it had taken her some time the night beforehand to prise herself away from Teddy and the cosy atmosphere of the Lupins' sitting room (her mother in particular had been deeply unimpressed to have her seventeen year old daughter arrive home proximately two hours past her designated curfew). And it had taken Carrie even longer to fall asleep, for the events of the Phoenix Day parade had left her rather shaken, nervous, confused...

It was both Dora and Remus' promises that had finally put her mind at ease. Carrie was sure that as long as she had their protection nothing bad could ever befall her, no matter how dire the situation became. She'd spent time musing just how calm Remus had seemed all day long, despite the Ministry's vague threats, indeed the muggle found it difficult to believe that his heart had been racing at all as Dora had claimed.

No, Carrie would be fine as long as she had the Lupins to watch over her. They had promised.

And as for the Ministry's proposed legislation...surely people would see it was madness! Surely there were plenty of people to fight her corner; Dora, Harry, Ron, Minister Shacklebolt and plenty others. They were on her side, everything would blow over sooner rather than later. The extremists would lose the debate, the law would remain unchanged.

Carrie's perfect little world would remain exactly the way it was.

Some while later, having cleared the breakfast table and loaded the dishwasher, Carrie found herself alone in the house, for both of her parents had left for work and her elder brothers Thomas and Timothy had yet to return from University. So the muggle gathered up the booklets again and headed next door to the Lupins' house, where she knocked upon the door and waited patiently for a reply. When, after some time there was no response she tried knocking again and again, finally resorting to crouching before the letterbox, raising the flap in order to call uncertainly:

"Hello? Is anybody home? It's me! It's Carrie!"

No sooner had the final syllable left her lips, Carrie heard the door's lock click and it swung back on it's hinges to allow her inside. For a long moment, Carrie simply stared at the empty hallway that was revealed to her, musing that the door had never opened of its own accord before...

And then she heard the sobbing. A miserable, muffled sound drifting out from the sitting room and a sudden sense of dread descended over the muggle as she carefully stepped over the threshold, turning to close the door behind her as quietly as she could manage.

Carrie slowly crept up the hallway, holding her breath as she carefully leaned to peer around the door and into the sitting room.

Ginny Potter and Dora were sat upon the sofa, the Auror's arm wrapped tightly around the younger witch's shoulders as the red head sobbed into a white cotton handkerchief that she was clutching in both hands.

"J...James and Al..." Carrie heard her mumble as Dora cast a brief glance over towards the fireplace. "They...they know something's happened, I...I'm sure of it!"

"Don't you worry about the children, Teddy's got it covered." Dora assured her, but Carrie wasn't entirely sure that Ginny was listening.

"I just...just knew something had...had happened! He...he'd never just...just go off like...like that without telling me! And...and what if...what if Remus is right? What if Kingsley...oh Merlin, Tonks, what if...?"

"Let's not jump to conclusions." Dora insisted, voice the model of calm, though she shot the fireplace another impatient glance. "We'll just wait until Remus gets back. That way we'll know for sure."

"Y...you should have s...stopped him going. They'll...they'll take him next!"

"Nobody's taking anybody anywhere, Ginny love. I'm sure there's a perfectly reasonable explanation for all this..."

Ginny let out a disbelieving, choking laugh.

"If that's what you think then Harry should sack you!" she snapped, and with that she went back to sobbing into her handkerchief.

"Be reasonable, Ginny. People don't just...just kidnap the Minister for Magic and the Head of Aurors for Merlin's sake! No, it'll be something work related...you know they're probably having some sort of meeting in Kingsley's office right as we speak..."

"Oh really? Well why don't you pop over to the Ministry and see for yourself? You can't, can you? Show up at work and they'll bloody take you too!"

Carrie waited for Dora to respond, but she merely sighed heavily, reaching to run a hand through her spiky hair that today was an unusually conservative shade of brown.

Ginny drew in a deep, calming breath, reaching to grasp hold of Dora by the arm.

"I'm...I'm sorry," she mumbled with a sniff. "I didn't mean to snap at you, I just...I'm worried. You're right, I'm sure there's a...a perfectly reasonable explanation. Harry probably got called to the Ministry. He's probably been unspeakably busy...you know I expect they've caught wind of a former Death Eater again. You were all really busy that time they went after Gibbon, weren't you? I barely saw Harry for a week...that's...that's probably exactly what's happened!"

"Wait for Remus." Dora insisted, jaw clenched, and with that the pair lapsed into silence, both staring anxiously at the fireplace.

And Carrie stood, hand clamped over her mouth, waiting too.

It was not for some long minutes that at long last the fireplace roared into life and Remus appeared in a burst of emerald flames. As he climbed carefully out of the fireplace, Dora instantly jumped to her feet and Ginny stared up at him expectantly.

The werewolf pursed his lips tightly together as he stared back at the two witches...

And then he slowly shook his head.

Ginny reached to clamp a hand over her mouth as Dora took a somewhat stumbled step towards her husband, eyes growing wide.

"No?" she whispered in incomprehension, and Remus drew a deep breath to admit:

"No. His house is empty."

"You're quite sure?"

"Yes, I checked every single room...I even checked the cupboard under the stairs..."

"And Kingsley wasn't there?"

"No..."

"You're absolutely sure?"

"Yes Dora, I'm absolutely sure."

"Did it look like there had been a struggle, or...?"

"No, it looked normal enough to me."

"Tricky bastards."

"Mm."

Ginny rose slowly from her seat, handkerchief reduced to a crumpled ball in her fist, confirmation seemingly bringing a degree of calm to the situation.

"What do you think we should do?" she asked the two Lupins, and there was a thoughtful pause before Remus folded his arms firmly across his chest and drew breath to speak...

"Carrie?"

At the sound of the voice from her right, Carrie hastily spun around with a gasp, only to find herself face to face with young Albus Potter.

The younger Potter boy eyed her curiously for a long moment, what appeared to be a worm-shaped jelly sweet hanging somewhat oddly out of the corner of his mouth. The muggle watched as he paused to suck the remainder of the sugary treat into his mouth with a soft slurping sound before he asked:

"What're you doing?"

"Al?" Teddy's voice called from the kitchen. "Where have you gone? Come and finish these sums before Uncle Remus gets back from the shops!"

Albus glanced somewhat idly over his shoulder for a moment before turning back and asking the intruder:

"Are you here to see Teddy? He's in the kitchen, helping Lily with her reading. They're reading a story about chocolate."

"Um..." Carrie mumbled, heart pounding relentlessly in her chest. She wondered why she felt so nervous to be caught eavesdropping by a child. It was silly, and yet her mind was all a muddle...

Albus turned to regard the sitting room door with a small frown, sucking the sugar from his fingers.

"You're not supposed to listen at doors like that." he informed her, making her cheeks tinge pink. "Auntie Dora says she and Mummy are talking about Dominique's birthday party and we're not to listen because it's supposed to be a big surprise."

"That sounds exciting." Carrie managed to mumble, trying her very best to smile, only for Teddy to call:

"Albus? Hurry up!"

Albus puffed his cheeks in resignation before turning to stomp his way back towards the kitchen.

"Come on then." he grumbled, but Carrie hastily shook her head.

"No...no it's alright, you're all very busy...maths and...and parties and everything! I'll...I'll come back later..."

And with that she turned on her heel and fled from the house before anybody else could catch sight of her.

She didn't realise it at that moment as she heard the door swing shut behind her, but Carrie Winters would soon realise that running out of the Lupins' house that morning was something that she would deeply, deeply regret.

Part of her had wanted to run straight back there, burst into the sitting room and ask what precisely was going on, who had taken Kingsley and Harry and what was to be done about it? But a much larger part of her had wanted to dash back into her own house, hide in her bedroom and pretend that she hadn't heard anything at all.

Because Carrie Winters was a coward.

Despite all she had said to Dora the previous day upon the steps of Hogwarts, despite her desire to prove that she was mature, Carrie simply couldn't bear to go back. The prospect of the new legislation was difficult enough without things getting more complicated, without having to watch Teddy's friends and relations panic, fall to pieces, break...

No, she'd just wait instead. Wait for somebody to wave a magic wand and make all the trouble go away. Because that was what would happen, that was what always happened...

And that was what she kept telling herself for the following few hours. She went and made herself a cheese and pickle sandwich, sat down upon the sofa in her living room and watched television. One of the cable channels was showing constant reruns of an old comedy show one of her uncles had always raved about. She watched four episodes in a row.

It was not until the opening credits of the fifth episode began that it occurred to the muggle that she had not laughed once, not even a snigger, and she couldn't recall a single character's name.

Carrie reached to snatch up the remote control and for the briefest moment very nearly threw it at the screen, settling instead on jabbing her thumb at the stand by button. The television went blank and for a few minutes the muggle simply stared at her reflection in the dark screen.

The reflection scowled.

"You're pathetic." Carrie informed it bitterly, tossing the remote control down upon the sofa beside her. "You're the most...most pathetic excuse for a person that ever there was! And...and Teddy knows it! Teddy knows it and...and Remus and Dora know it...Mum and Dad know it and...and Thomas and Timothy and...and even Cleo knows it! Everybody knows! You're a...a waste of space!"

And with one last furious scowl, the muggle got resolutely to her feet and marched herself into the hallway.

"Well not anymore!" she announced loudly to the house at large. "I'm not going to be pathetic anymore! I'm going to be...brave! Brave and...and mature! I'm going to...I'm going to march round there right this second and say...and say...tell me everything! I want to know it all! No matter what!"

She yanked her shoes back onto her feet, snatched up her keys from their spot by the door, shoved them deep into her pocket and flung the front door open. The muggle strode purposefully out of the door and across the driveway, gravel crunching satisfyingly under her feet. She stepped boldly up onto the Lupins' doorstep and reaching to hammer her fist upon the door. And then she waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Carrie reached to bang upon the door again, before stooping as she had done before to call through the letterbox.

"TED?" she shouted, squinting into the hallway. "DORA? REMUS? IT'S ME!"

Nothing.

The muggle gave an impatient huff before trying:

"IT'S CARRIE!"

The lock clicked and just as it had done that morning, the door swan wide open.

Carrie wasted no time in marching over the threshold, making a beeline for the sitting room.

"Hello...?" she called as she reached to push the door open and step inside...

The room was empty.

Biting her lip in irritation that her grand entrance had been somewhat ruined, Carrie turned and strode down the hallway into the kitchen.

"Ted..." she began, only to come to a halt just inside the doorway. A brief gaze around revealed the kitchen to be void of life too. Frowning deeply, Carrie wandered across the tiled room to glance out into the back garden, finding it equally as empty.

There was nobody in the study, nobody upstairs in the bedrooms or the bathroom...

Nobody in the attic room...not even the three owls or the grindylow...

Come to think of it, Carrie thought as her gaze roamed searchingly around the dim little room, it wasn't just people and pets who seemed to be missing...hadn't there always been a large trunk set in that corner over there? And wasn't that spot there were the broomsticks were usually kept?

Icy cold, numbing dread began to seep over her and Carrie felt her stomach churning...

No. No, it couldn't be. It just...couldn't...

The muggle turned to bolt back down the stairs and into Teddy's bedroom, eyes darting around nervously as she began to tick things off a mental list in her head...

No bedding.

No Hogwarts trunk.

No books, no paper and ink, no photos tacked to the walls...

Shaking her head stubbornly, Carrie went to the wardrobe, holding her breath apprehensively before reaching to pull it open...

Empty. Entirely bare, save for a stray turquoise sock that had been discarded in a bottom corner...

But it couldn't be...they couldn't be...they wouldn't! They couldn't...

Into the master bedroom and Carrie found herself confronted with another stripped bed, bare window sill, bare bedside cabinets...

Empty drawers. She checked them. Every last one of them and there was nothing, not a single thing...

There were a couple of bath towels in the wardrobe and a faded old traveling cloak that had been patched in several places, it's fraying hem stained with mud. Teeth gritted against tears, Carrie reached to pull it down from it's hanger, scrunching it up in her fists as she stared down at it, eyes growing watery despite her efforts.

_Always. I promise..._

Shaking her head, Carrie threw the cloak to the floor, tears at last managing to seep from her eyes. She shot the cloak one last accusing look before continuing back out onto the landing and into the bathroom.

Empty. Again.

There were no cloaks or coats hanging up on the hooks beside the front door, no shoes lined up against the door, the crackly wireless had been taken from it's place beside the fireplace in the sitting room and the shelves in the study, that had been so stuffed full of books that Carrie had always been sure that they would collapse were it not for magic of some sort, had been relieved entirely of their burden. Carrie could even see the wallpaper behind them for once...deep, dusty scarlet. The muggle wondered if it were some sort of terrible omen. The desk that was so often littered with books and papers had also been cleared, a single solitary book remained. With a miserable sniff, Carrie stumbled forward and picked it up.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

The muggle sank down to the wooden floor, book grasped in her hands. Flicking dejectedly through the pages her eyes finally came to rest upon the final page.

_The End._

With a choked whimper she threw the book into the nearest corner and leant to bury her face in her hands.

"No, no, no..." she complained, slumping sideways until she felt her cheek press against the cool wooden boards, the smell of polish assorting her nostrils. "You can't be gone, you can't leave me! You just can't! Not...not now! Not without saying goodbye! You...you can't leave me on my own!You...you can't because...because...YOU PROMISED!"

As she collapsed further down upon the floor, the floorboards beneath gave a mournful groan.

And Carrie Winters wept and wept, for no matter how much she had believed the Lupins' promises, she knew there and then that they truly were gone.

Carrie's perfect little world had disappeared within the blink of an eye, and yet the gaping hole inside her that it left behind would last forever, of that she had no doubt.

_Remus and I won't let anything bad happen to you, I promise..._

What was this if not the worst, most terribly bad thing in the whole wide world?

_Always. I promise..._

Eyes screwed shut against the dizzying depths of despair to which she was plummeting, Carrie shook her head as she once again recalled Remus' final promise to her the previous day.

"Liars." the muggle whispered into the refuge of her arms.


	6. Paranoia

_Note: Thanks so much for the enthusiastic reviews!_

_This chapter is dedicated to **IwillForeverMissYou**! Happy Birthday! If I'd known in more time you could have had an entire one shot as a present, but sadly you're just stuck with this chapter instead! _

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter._

**6: Paranoia**

As she lay spread-eagle upon the bed, staring blankly up at the ceiling above her, Carrie Winters did not so much as flinch as for the third time a fist was hammered loudly upon the bedroom door.

"CARRIE?" Cleo Clancy's voice bellowed from the hallway. "Open this bloody door right now!"

"Go away, Cleo!" Carrie called miserably, shifting until she could bury her face into her pillow with a sigh.

"Oh, so you've not died in there, then?" Cleo called, giving the door a frustrated kick. "Well that's good, you won't have any trouble getting off your backside and coming to unlock the door!"

When Carrie failed to reply her friend let out a odd little shriek of frustration before sucking in a deep, calming breath.

"Listen, Carrie," she said, voice at last losing it's furious edge. "You're really starting to freak me out...you've got your parents worried too, I mean...your mum PHONED ME! She ASKED me to come and see you! How crazy is that? Your mum doesn't even like me!"

Again, Carrie said nothing. Cleo refused to be deterred.

"I just think," she said, settling herself against the door frame patiently, "you should come out for a while...out of the house, I mean. It might do you good! We could...we could go for a walk or something...how about it, eh?"

Silence.

"Or...or we could just stay here! If that's what you want, we could just stay here for a while and...and watch telly and...and talk about...I don't know...boys or something..." Cleo's face contorted distastefully at the very thought, but she forced herself to announce: "That would be cool, wouldn't it? Because, you know, I've not seen you in ages...you don't...return my calls..."

"I'm not coming out!" Carrie's voice declared shrilly, and Cleo reached to tug irritably at a wayward strand of her dark hair.

"Well you can't stay inside the house forever...you've barely left the house in WEEKS!"

"Go away!"

Cleo lapsed into hopeless silence for near on a minute, before she slowly sank down to sit upon the floor. A creak upon the stairs made her glance round to see Mrs. Winters stood halfway up the steps, no doubt eavesdropping. Cleo pursed her lips together thoughtfully before trying:

"Carrie I know you're sad that Teddy's moved house or...or whatever...but I'm sure you'll still get to see him. I mean...you two were best friends, right? He's not going to just leave and never speak to you again! I expect he's just dead busy with...unpacking and...and everything."

"IT'S NEARLY BEEN A MONTH!" Carrie shrieked, as though it were all Cleo's fault, and Cleo's gaze dropped to the carpet by her feet.  
>"Well...well yes, that's true but...well..."<p>

"YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!" Carrie cried, making both Cleo and her mother flinch. "NOBODY DOES!"

Cleo reached to run a weary hand across her face, stretching her legs out before her with a sigh.

"No...no I don't suppose anybody does." she agreed somewhat dejectedly. "After all, Teddy's always been your favorite..." She gave herself a little shake, clearing her throat before she called: "But I reckon I have a better clue than most people. After all, I've lost my best friend too! She was the most awesome friend I ever had, we used to have a real laugh and get up to all sorts together...only she doesn't come out with me anymore! She didn't even phone me on my birthday! And I bet she won't come to my birthday party tonight, either!"

Back inside the bedroom, Carrie felt her stomach give a guilty twist.

Indeed it had been almost a month to the day that the Lupins had disappeared from their house next door, and their muggle neighbor was finding life without them difficult to say the least. For the first few days, despite her unbearable woe, Carrie had clung onto the hope that she would receive some sort of message from them, that she might awake to find an owl at her window or some vague hint as to where they had gone. When no such message had arrived, the muggle had taken to sneaking round to their house, wandering round and round the bare rooms in a vain attempt to spot something that she may have missed, a clue, an explanation. She had even searched inside the confides of Teddy's discarded sock and she had lost count of how many times that week that she had read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

When her constant searching turned out to be fruitless, it was not long before Carrie's determination to find out the truth had begun to be smothered by her sense of despair. She took to staying inside for long periods of time, lying aimlessly on her bed or sitting in the sitting room, staring blankly at the television.

It was whilst staring at the television that Carrie had began to notice the news reports. Disappearances, suspected kidnappings the length and breadth of the country that had all the police forces baffled. Nearing the end of the month, it was reported that the crime statistics had made such an abrupt leap upwards that the Head of Scotland Yard claimed that Britain was no doubt facing a crisis.

They must have lost the debate. I'll be next, Carrie would muse dully to herself each time a new case was announced on the News At Ten, and yet she didn't feel particularly scared or worried.

She just felt depressed.

And yet, the muggle mused as she lay staring into the blackness of her pillow, the prospect of having to go to Cleo's birthday party was...daunting. Not to mention that it didn't make sense for Cleo to invite her. She'd only put a downer on the atmosphere, make it not much of a party at all.

"Look," Cleo's voice announced flatly from outside the door, "if you don't come to my party I'll bloody track the Lupins down myself and kill the lot of them for making my birthday so crap! And then what will you do? They certainly won't ever manage to speak to you then!"

"Somebody might have already beaten you to it." Carrie mused miserably, not quite loud enough for her friend to hear.

"What?"

"Nothing." Carrie reached to run a weary hand across her eyes, frowning deeply.

The Lupins weren't dead. She knew that for sure...

She didn't know quite how she knew it, but she did. If they were dead...well...she'd know about it. She just would.

Besides, if they were dead there would never be even a shred of hope, and no matter how little faith in them the muggle had left, not being able to have any at all was out of the question. Living was dismal enough already without having that to think of too. Carrie would not be able to bear it.

"Why don't you just...just come? Come for a little while! Come for ten bloody minutes if that's all you want, but don't not come at all!" she heard Cleo plead, and once again Carrie's stomach gave a guilty twist...

Maybe she should go. Just for ten, no five minutes...

That wouldn't be so bad, would it?

"It's only a little party! My cousins Sam and Ryan are coming! You remember Sam and Ryan, don't you? Sam's the one who threw Bowie in the swimming pool last summer!"

Carrie puffed her cheeks in consideration. She wasn't terribly keen on Sam Clancy, he was rather loud and boisterous and he'd kept making dirty jokes about her swimming costume...

But she'd rather enjoyed talking to his brother Ryan. He'd been a bit quieter, they'd sat and sipped lemonade together next to his parents' pool and they'd had a good laugh about the state of Cleo's sister Bowie's wardrobe. He'd made her laugh a lot.

"And I've asked Helena and Becky from college, too! Come on, it'll be a laugh!"

With Helena and Becky around, Cleo was probably right, it would be a laugh...

"We're having a barbeque! Sausages, steak, all sorts!"

Well...maybe...

"Come on, Carrie! It's my BIRTHDAY PARTY!"

And with that, Carrie's mind was made up. She cast one last sideways glance at the photograph tacked upon the wall beside her bed, her eleven year old self sat with Teddy in his back garden, before reaching to pull it free from the wall. Shoving it down the side of the bed, just in case another glimpse got the better of her, the muggle got to her feet and wandered over to the door. Sliding the lock across she pulled the door open, offering Cleo a raised eyebrow when her friend let out a loud shout of triumph.

"I need to have a shower." Carrie mumbled, stepping over Cleo's legs, and with that she made a beeline for the bathroom.

And so it was that an hour and a half later Carrie had picked out a suitably sparkly top and a nice skirt to wear, fashioned a few extra waves in her hair and dusted a bit of face powder upon her face before Cleo marched her out of the door and the two of them set off for Cleo's house to help set up the barbeque.

"Since it's my party," Cleo announced as they turned off of Carrie's road and into the next. "I think I should get to set a few...ground rules for the evening!"

"I thought I was only staying for ten minutes." Carrie mumbled, reaching to adjust the golden bangle upon her wrist.

"For ten minutes of the evening, then! Rule Number One!" Cleo declared, reaching to sling an arm around her friend's shoulders as if she expected her to turn around and make a dash for home. "No talking about Teddy! I don't want crying at my party, for goodness sake!"

"Got it." Carrie muttered with a frown, though this rule seemed reasonable enough. It would do her good, she guessed, to try and think about other things.

"Rule Number Two!" Cleo continued as they paused to glance up and down the street, setting off across the road as they found no cars approaching. "No getting off with Sam in my bedroom! If you have to encourage the disgusting little berk, take it to Bowie's room or something..."

"I don't even like your cousin Sam, you know I don't. And besides, Teddy is..."

"NO TALKING ABOUT TEDDY! Remember, my party, my rules! And finally, Rule Number Three, are you listening Carrie? Because this is the most important one. HAVE FUN! If you don't have fun you're going to end up sitting in a corner somewhere looking dull and everybody will notice and wonder why the bloody hell I invited you..."

As Cleo began to babble incomprehensibly about the wonders of being cheerful, Carrie found her mind wandering as she glanced aimlessly at the houses they were passing.

It was true, she mused, that she did feel better being out of the house. There was fresh air out here, for one thing, and it was nice to have somebody to chat to, somebody who wasn't trying to probe her for information, find out what was wrong.

_Tell us what's wrong, Caroline, we just want to understand._

Carrie had lost count how many times her parents had asked her this question over breakfast, or how many times they had called it through her bedroom door. It did nothing but make things worse. She had thought she might start to feel a little better when her brothers had arrived home from University for the summer, but they had been home less than a week before disappearing off on holiday to somewhere hot and sunny with a horde of their student friends. Carrie could not even remember where it was that they had gone...

They came to a halt at another curb, and Carrie was just turning to glance down the road to check for oncoming cars when she heard something move behind them. She turned further to see what it was, only to find that nothing was there.

"What?" Cleo asked, turning to look too, and Carrie frowned deeply.

"I thought..." she began, only to trail off and give herself a little shake. "Nothing, let's go."

They crossed the road and turned onto the main road that ran past their old school, Oakhurst Manor, and Carrie grimaced to think that she couldn't even walk past the old brick building without thinking of the Lupins – how when she had been bullied during her first week at school Remus had enchanted her homework planner's map to show the whereabouts of the other students so that she could avoid the bullies, how Dora had shown up one afternoon in disguise and scared the bullies half to death, how the following summer Teddy had accompanied her to summer school...

What was that?

At the faint noise behind them again, Carrie slowed her pace to look over her shoulder.

"What is it now?" Cleo asked impatiently, and as she stared at the empty pavement behind them, Carrie shrugged.

"I...I thought I heard something again...like a...a shuffling sound! Did you hear it?"

"No, I didn't hear a thing. Not even your voice answering my questions! Are you even listening to me?"

"I must be imagining things." Carrie mumbled, more to herself than her friend, and Cleo reached to give her arm a firm tug to get her walking again.

"You can say that again." Cleo sniggered. "You've probably been watching too much of the news!" At this suggestion, Carrie felt suddenly panicked. She managed to give a half-hearted chuckle, glancing back over her shoulder again.

"Yeah...I probably have..." she whispered with a shudder.

And quite suddenly Carrie Winters felt less depressed and a whole lot more frightened.

Despite Cleo's rules, Carrie spent the first half an hour of the barbeque sitting in a garden chair by the back door of the Clancy's house, watching all the other guests having a good time whilst failing to do so herself. She was just watching Bowie chasing Sam up the garden, waving a spatula above her head as she shrieked at him for yet another of his distasteful jokes, when she heard a scraping noise beside her and turned to see Ryan dragging another chair up next to her. The tall, dark haired boy dropped down into the chair beside her, glancing sideways to offer her a bright smile.

"Hi, Carrie!" he greeted cheerfully, leaning to set his glassful of cola down by their feet. "Long time no see!"

"Hello Ryan!" Carrie managed, attempting to sit a little straighter in her chair and smile back at him. "How're you?"

"I'm good," Cleo's cousin said, turning to watch as Bowie finally caught up with his brother, only to drop the spatula to the ground and resort to slapping him repeatedly upon the arm instead. "How about you? What have you been up to?"

"Mm...nothing." Carrie mumbled, and as he reached to shrug off his jacket, Ryan mused:

"Mm nothing? Sounds fascinating, you'll have to tell me all about it!"

Carrie sniggered into her glass as she took a sip of lemonade.

"Listen," the boy said slowly, scratching the back of his neck a little awkwardly. "I was thinking...or I was wondering if, maybe...you might like to come to the cinema on Friday? With me...obviously...and...and a few others..."

Carrie took another long sip of lemonade before asking:

"Is Cleo going?"

"Cleo? Um..." Ryan glanced over to where the girl in question was busy drowning yet another hot dog in tomato sauce. "Well...she could come, I suppose...but...but well I was rather hoping she wouldn't."

"Oh?"

"Well you know Cleo...she...she always talks through the important scenes and...and she steals all the popcorn."

Carrie stifled a laugh into the palm of her hand before turning in her chair to face him.

"Well who else is going?" she asked, and Ryan sucked in a deep, thoughtful breath...and said nothing.

"Nobody else is going, are they?" Carrie guessed knowingly, and his face flushed pink as he admitted:

"Ummmmm...no."

Carrie couldn't help it, she giggled.

"But...but they can do! It's...it's not a date or anything, obviously..."

"Obviously."

"I just didn't want you to think...you know..."

"Mm."

"Exactly."

"Yeah."

They both lapsed into silence, smiling vaguely at one another for a moment until a sudden shattering sound to Carrie's right made her jump.

"Oops," Ryan said as she jerked sideways to see smashed glass littering the patio. "Must've been the wind or something."

Carrie was about to tell him that there wasn't much wind to speak of, but he had already leapt to his feet and gone in search of the dustpan and brush.

When he returned a moment later, the sound of his steps upon the patio made her jump again.

"You're awfully jumpy this evening." he observed as he crouched to clear up the mess. "Are you sure you're alright?"

Wiping self-consciously at the spilt lemonade in her lap, Carrie gave a shrug.

"I'm absolutely fine." she said, keen to change the subject as she hastily asked: "So um...what shall we see at the cinema?"

To her immense surprise, Carrie enjoyed herself at Cleo's birthday party. She spent most of the time talking to Ryan about her favorite films and she had even consented to joining Sam's raucous conga line that had snaked it's way twice around the garden, through the house and halfway up the road until the teenagers were all forced to bail on account of a disgruntled man driving a Mercedes. Sam and Cleo had called him a miserable git and then they had all retreated back into the garden for chocolate birthday cake and ice cream. When it had started to get dark they had all piled into the Clancys' living room to watch DVDs and it was not until the early hours of the morning that they all finally found a spot on a sofa or floor amongst the empty crisp packets and sweet wrappers, where they fell asleep, ready to be discovered by Cleo and Bowie's parents the next morning.

She'd even had fun helping to tidy up the following morning, because Cleo had started a food fight with the remainder of the burgers and birthday cake, and as she lay upon the lawn, laughing hysterically as Helena smeared a handful of chocolate icing across her face, it had occurred to Carrie that she was having fun.

She was having fun being a muggle.

There were no magic tricks, no fancy food that did things it shouldn't, no indoor fireworks or instant vanishing of messes. It was just a muggle birthday party, with muggle friends and muggle entertainment...

It was good fun, and the best thing about it was that Carrie felt entirely as though she was supposed to be there.

She was fitting in, at long last.

And maybe, just maybe, life wasn't unbearable at all. Maybe, just maybe, for the first time in seven whole years, Carrie Winters could be entirely happy with being exactly that. Carrie Winters: The Muggle.

Walking home that morning, still covered in chocolate cake and in desperate need of a shower, Carrie had felt an almost irrepressible urge to skip. She had spent half of the journey home recalling that Cleo's birthday had been the best party that she had been to in ages, and she was just beginning to musing that she really was looking forward to going to the cinema with Ryan when she heard a sudden scuffing sound, causing her to spin upon her heel to look behind her...

The street behind her was, as it had been the day beforehand, entirely empty.

Carrie drew in a deep breath, swallowing the sudden lump in her throat.

"Hello...?" she called uncertainly down the road, eyes darting around nervously.

There was no response.

Carrie wet her lips nervously, eyes still roaming around searchingly.

They must have lost the debate. I'll be next...

The muggle took a small step backwards, her heart beginning to pound in her chest.

There were spells, she recalled as she took another step backwards. Spells that could make a person tricky to spot, make you see through them...

There were even cloaks. Invisibility cloaks!

They, whoever they were, could be following her right now, they could be following her home, waiting to strike and BAM! That would be it, that would be everything gone, she wouldn't remember a thing, she'd be Obliviated...

Or maybe they were waiting to take her. Snatch her off the streets, lock her up somewhere with all the other muggles who knew too much...

To think she'd left the house!

And with that, Carrie turned on her heel and bolted home as fast as her feet would carry her.

It was not until some twenty minutes later when she was stood in the shower, hot water streaming over her and steaming up the bathroom window, that it occurred to Carrie that perhaps she was being just a little bit paranoid. After all, if somebody was going to snatch her away, surely they would have done it by now? Surely, with the Lupins gone, and after the fuss that Remus had caused at the Phoenix Day Parade, she would have been Target Number One?

It had been almost a whole entire month and nothing had happened...

And who was to say anybody was looking for her? It was entirely possible that she was just being paranoid, hearing things that weren't there. After all, it had been some time since she had gone out of the house...

That was what it had been, the muggle decided. Silly paranoia. That was all.

Friday soon arrived and Carrie went into town to meet Ryan outside of the cinema. That evening Carrie rather supposed that despite their agreement, going to watch a film with Ryan really had been rather like a date. For starters he'd paid for her ticket and bought her a drink and some popcorn. He'd also commented several times that she looked nice, and once they had watched the film, which they both agreed was in actual fact one of the worst films that either or them had ever seen, he'd walked her home and given her a hug goodbye.

If it had been a date, Carrie hadn't really cared. She later supposed that she ought have done so, that she should have told Ryan there and then that really they couldn't go on dates, let alone end up being boyfriend and girlfriend, because she had Teddy.

But really, Carrie didn't feel as though she had Teddy at all. She hadn't had Teddy for weeks and weeks, and besides if she were to continue Cleo's rules from the party (which she tried her best to do because they had resulted in a lot of fun), she wasn't supposed to give much thought to Teddy or his parents at all.

True, she had cried herself to sleep that night in bed because reasoning with herself had led her to think about Teddy and his parents a great deal, but that hadn't been much of a step back in terms of progress. She had been crying herself to sleep in a similar fashion for the past month, after all.

And it hadn't really been a date. She and Ryan had agreed that it wasn't...

No, there was absolutely no reason to feel guilty. It had been a day out with a friend.

That was what they were. Carrie and Ryan. Friends.

Carrie awoke abruptly the following morning to the sound of her bedroom door being slammed shut, and after taking several moments to get over the initial shock of her rude awakening, she stumbled groggily out of bed and across her room to select some clothes from her wardrobe. She picked out a brightly coloured summer dress adorned with vibrant pink flowers, musing that it was going to be a good day. A bright, happy day, she would make sure of it. Perhaps she'd phone Cleo and see if she wanted to go to the shops or for a walk in the park. They could have ice cream.

Her optimism for the day did not last very long.

Once washed and dressed, she'd headed downstairs to eat some breakfast and upon dropping down into a chair opposite her parents, had told them:

"I do wish you wouldn't slam doors like that, you gave me a fright just now!"

Mr. Winters looked up from his morning newspaper with a disinterested frown.

"Wasn't me, Sweetheart." he told his daughter, causing her to glance accusingly in her mother's direction.

Mrs. Winters paused, spoonful of cornflakes midway to her mouth.

"Well don't look at me darling, I've been down here since six!"

As she reached for the cereal box in the middle of the table, Carrie frowned deeply.

"Well somebody must have done it!" she complained irritably. "It can't have been the wind because I didn't have the window open, and..." she trailed off, staring at the empty bowl in front of her.

I'll be next...

There was a long silence as Mrs. Winters swallowed her latest mouthful of cornflakes before she leant forward, eying her daughter worriedly.

"Are you alright, Carrie love?" she asked, causing her husband to abandon his newspaper to stare at their daughter too. "You've gone awfully pale all of a sudden."

Carrie opened her mouth to respond, but the words just didn't come.

What if somebody had been inside the house?

In her bedroom!

"Carrie?" her mother said again, and despite herself Carrie gave a little jump.

"Hm?"

"I said are you alright?"

"Oh...yes. Yes I...I'm fine thanks, Mum..."

Her parents exchanged a glance that was nowhere near as knowing as they probably thought it was.

"Listen, Sweetheart." Mr. Winters began as Carrie turned to glance nervously down the hallway, hands reaching to grip hold of the edge of her seat. "Mum and I were talking just now...about the Lupins."

At the mention of her missing magical family, Carrie's eyes snapped up to look at her father.

"That's right," Mrs. Winters said, causing her daughter's gaze to dart sideways at her. "And we were just saying how...how proud we are that you're finally starting to...well..." When she failed to think of the right word, she offered her husband an expectant look and he tried:

"Accept things."

"Yes, accept things. It must be terribly difficult to have them leave so suddenly. And Dad and I are very proud..."

"Yes, very proud!"

"...that you are choosing to be...grown up about things."

There was a long, expectant silence and Carrie managed to stop a rather paranoid inspection of the back garden through the kitchen window to mumble:

"Thank you..."

Both adults instantly brightened.

"So!" Mrs. Winters beamed as she reached to pour herself another cup of tea. "I was thinking that since the twins won't be home until Monday, you and I could go out for the day tomorrow! Do some shopping and have a cup of coffee in town! We could even go and have our nails done, you know Sandra says there's a new place opened up on the high street! Won't that be fun?"

Carrie managed to offer her mother a smile that she suspected lacked any form of enthusiasm at all, but this was entirely lost on Mrs. Winters, who had just glanced over at the clock upon the wall.

"Is that the time? Goodness! Hurry up, dear, we're going to miss my hair appointment!"

As she watched her parents file out of the kitchen a few seconds later, Carrie very nearly begged them to take her with them, but they had gone before she could find her voice. Alone in the house, she jumped at every little sound, from a dripping bathroom tap to net curtains fluttering in the summer breeze.

By the time noon was approaching, Carrie simply couldn't stand the tension anymore.

She fled to the refuge of the Lupins' house next door for the first time in weeks. Despite the sparse, cold atmosphere, the muggle felt safer within those four walls and she soon found herself wandering around the rooms again, until panic-related fatigue finally got the better of her. She retrieved Remus' worn cloak from where she had discarded it in a corner of the master bedroom, and went to lie down upon Teddy's bed, huddled under the dusty, patched item of clothing.

When she awoke some hours later, she found that she had missed lunch entirely and it was nearing tea time. She abandoned Remus' cloak upon the bed and hurried back downstairs. Slipping into her shoes she went to the door, midway through composing some sort of excuse to her mother as to why she had skipped a meal. She was just deciding that she would claim to have been at Cleo's house when she paused, hand upon the door handle...

Her insides seemed to be twisting into knots. She couldn't bear the prospect of leaving her little refuge, of going back home...

Quite suddenly the door handle gave a twitch and the muggle failed to suppress a small shriek as she jumped back from the door, heart instantly racing.

The door swung open to reveal an empty driveway.

Carrie stood for a moment, taking a few calming breaths.

"Alright," she muttered to the door accusingly. "I'm going!" And with that she took a bold step forward, over the threshold.

Back at home, Carrie returned to jumping at every little sound, and come early evening her nerves had been reduced to shreds. She did little besides move her dinner of egg and chips around her plate, which seemed to irritate her mother so much that when there came a knock upon the front door, which caused Carrie to catapult the chip she was fiddling with across the table and into her father's lap, Mrs. Winters told her:

"You can go and get that, since you're determined not to eat anything!"

Carrie turned in her chair to gaze in panic down the hallway towards the front door.

"Well? Go on!" her mother insisted, and Carrie was forced to suck in a deep, brave breath and go to answer the door.

Her legs seemed awfully heavy as she shuffled down the hallway and she rather wished that she would never make it to the door at all. But soon enough she found herself reaching for the door handle. She slowly pulled the door open just enough that she could peer outside.

A tall man dressed in a navy shirt and black suit trousers was stood upon the doorstep, his hands clasped together behind his back as he gazed down his unusually large nose at her.

"Miss Caroline Winters?" he inquired, his deep voice making Carrie begin to tremble.

She licked her lips nervously before managing to squeak.

"Y...yes...?"

And with that, the man reached to withdraw a hand from behind his back.

This was it, Carrie thought as she watched the movement in complete and utter horror. This was going to be it, she was doomed, lost forever...

It was at that precise moment that she found herself being presented with a large bunch of red roses.

Carrie simply stared.

"Bit late for a delivery, I know." the delivery man said, smiling apologetically. "We had a flat tyre and we've been running late every since!"

Carrie was utterly speechless. Apparently this was a perfectly normal reaction for the man commented:

"Beautiful, aren't they?" He took a moment to squint down at the accompanying card that was sticking out of the bouquet before telling her: "Ryan must think you're a very special young lady!"

"R...Ryan?" Carrie managed to repeat, her head swimming at her near miss.

"That's what it says on the card." the man confirmed. There was a small pause before he wondered: "Would you like to take them, then?"

"Um..." Carrie gave herself a little shake. "Yes. Yes, thank you."

She numbly accepted the flowers and watched the man walk back down the driveway towards his van. She didn't move until he had driven off up the street and silence had descended once again upon the road.

Thank goodness...! Carrie thought, eying the flowers blankly. To think, she'd thought she was about to be Oblivi...

_Crack! _

Carrie froze, eyes snapping up to stare back down the driveway.

She knew that noise. She knew it, she'd heard it time and time again...

_Crack! _

Apparation. It was a very, very distinctive...

_Crack!_

Carrie immediately slammed the front door closed and, ignoring her mother's shout of disapproval from the kitchen, turned on her heel to sprint up the stairs, still clutching hold of the flowers. She had barely reached to top when she heard the sound of somebody knocking on the door.

"Carrie?" Mrs. Winters called as the girl skidded to a halt atop the stairs, peering down towards the door with wide, panicked eyes. "Carrie get the door!"

"No...no, no, no!" Carrie whispered in horror to herself as a fist was hammered upon the door again. "No Mum, I won't get the bloody door...!"

She heard the sound of chair legs scraping against tiles and a moment later her father appeared at the bottom of the stairs. As he reached to pull the door open, Carrie shrunk back behind the bannister, hot, terrified tears beginning to prickle at her eyes.

"Mr. Winters?" she heard a stranger's voice inquire. "Hello, my name is Roderick Mortell. May we come in? I wish to have a little chat with your daughter Caroline..."

"Carrie?" Carrie heard her father ask in bemusement. "Whatever would you want to talk to Carrie about? Are...are you from the college? We do keep telling her, my wife and I, that..."

It was at that precise moment that Carrie felt a pair of arms being thrown around her, and no sooner had she drawn a gasping breath, ready to scream at the top of her lungs, a firm hand was clamped down over her mouth. There came the distinct fluttering of material and as she screwed her eyes shut in panic, Carrie felt the weight of a blanket of some sort being wrapped around her.

It took the muggle just a few short seconds to gather the courage to fight back against her silent assailant, gritting her teeth she jerked her elbow backwards with all her might, feeling it collide with the person's ribcage.

"OW!" her captor, a man judging by his grunt of pain cried, only for a familiar woman's voice to hiss:

"Shhh Ron! They'll hear us!"


	7. Headquarters

_Note: I'm back from holiday! So...here is a shiny new chapter for you! Thank you so much to everybody who reviewed the last chapter – it was the most reviewed chapter so far! XD_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter._

**7: Headquarters**

As she felt Ron Weasley remove his hand from her mouth, Carrie drew in a gasping, relieved breath, but before she could utter a word, Hermione Weasley's voice behind her hissed:

"Up to the attic room, quickly!"

Their dash up into the twins' bedroom was by no means quick, for it was tricky to say the least to stay beneath what Carrie could only assume was an invisibility cloak, what with Ron being so much taller than she was. The door atop the stairs was pushed open by an invisible Hermione and as she and Ron stumbled into the room after her, Carrie finally managed to squeak:

"My parents...!"

"They'll be alright!" Ron assured her briskly as he pushed the door firmly shut behind him, and with that both he and Hermione pulled the cloaks from about the trio. As she watched Ron toss his cloak into Hermione's arms, Carrie stared at the witch and wizard with wide eyes.

"How...how did you know...?" she babbled as Hermione set about stuffing the cloaks into a bag that barely looked big enough to fit a handkerchief inside, let alone a couple of invisibility cloaks.

"We didn't." Ron admitted as he snatched his wand from his pocket. With a vague wave towards the corner of the room, a couple of broomsticks materialized before the muggle's eyes...

Carrie blinked.

To be honest, the whole dizzying sequence of events was beginning to make Carrie feel faint.

"You...didn't?" she mumbled uncertainly, only for Hermione to wrench open the window opposite and tell the girl:

"Not really, no. Come on, let's go!"

"If...if you didn't know they were coming...what are you doing here?" Carrie asked as she stumbled numbly forward, and Ron gave a soft snort as he paused to cast some sort of charm upon the door behind them.

"You didn't think Remus and Tonks would just bugger off and leave you on your own, did you?" he asked her, sounding bordering on offended on the Lupins' behalf. "Honestly...muggles!"

Carrie didn't get the choice to respond because Hermione snapped:

"Yes, yes, we can fill her in later! Now come on, get on that broomstick! We can apparate once we're free of the protective charms."

"Protective...charms?" Carrie asked in confusion, but neither Ron or Hermione bothered to respond.

Carrie had never flown so high up in the air or indeed as fast upon a broomstick before. On a few occasions she had consented to a slow ride upon Teddy's broom, just as long as her toes were brushing the grass beneath them...

Carrie Winters did not like traveling by broomstick.

Not one bit.

Indeed she had failed to suppress a scream as she clung desperately onto the back of Ron's robes as they shot out of the window and up into the sky, narrowly avoiding a collision with the chimney of the Lupins' house. Cool evening air rushing past her, throwing her hair into disarray, she was cut off mid-scream by the sudden sickening pull of apparation, and she screwed her eyes shut, burying her face in Ron's back with a gasp...

Only to feel solid ground scuffing under her feet as the broomstick come to a skidding halt.

Carrie swallowed the terrified lump in her throat before she finally dared to draw back from Ron's back, blinking around at her surroundings.

They had arrived in a dingy, grim looking street full of tall, grimy-bricked houses, the nearest of which looked bordering on derelict.

As he helped Carrie off their broom, Ron looked up at the building, a deep frown creasing his brow.

"We really need to do something about the house." he commented to his wife casually, as if they had arrived home after a day out shopping. "Don't get me wrong, I'm all for a bit of tradition and all that, but it's even more disgusting than it was last time...and that's saying something!"

As she led the way forward towards the steps leading to a front door painted in peeling black paint, Hermione rolled her eyes.

"I thought you were going to point out how vulnerable we are...what with Harry not being here to consent to us getting a new Secret Keeper. There's only so much the current protection can do..."

Carrie shuffled along behind the pair, their conversation fading away as she struggled to catch up with what had just happened to her...

One second, she was about to face complete and utter Obliviation and the next...

Invisible wizards and witches and broomsticks and...and...

Where in Merlin's name was she now?

Ron and Hermione had come to a stop before the door. They appeared to be squabbling.

"Um..." Carrie mumbled rather timidly, only to draw a deep breath and ask: "Ron? Hermione? Where...where are we?"

Husband and wife halted their disagreement suddenly, both turning to look down at the muggle as if they had quite forgotten that she was there.

"We're at Order Headquarters." Hermione explained, smiling brightly, and Carrie looked up at the building again, only for Ron to admit:

"It's never been terribly glamorous, 12 Grimmauld Place."

Carrie was led inside into a narrow, dingy hallway, the musty smell of which made the muggle's nose wrinkle. She gazed around at the faded wallpaper upon the walls, a damp patch in one corner as she shuffled after Hermione, Ron bringing up the rear.

"You come with me, Carrie." the witch suggested in a whisper. "Ron, you can check James isn't still reading that ghastly story book to Hugo and Albus."

Carrie allowed herself to be led silently down a rickety flight of stairs and into the basement kitchen, which she vaguely recognised from a few photographs she had spotted around the Lupins' house over the years. Numbly she watched Hermione draw out a chair from under the scrubbed kitchen table.

"Sit down," the witch suggested kindly, eying the muggle rather worriedly. "You look terribly pale...that's perfectly natural, of course...I'll make you a mug of cocoa, shall I?"

Apparently she took Carrie's lack of response as a yes, for she went to fetch a mug from a nearby cupboard.

It was at that precise moment that it occurred to Carrie that she was still clutching hold of the bouquet of roses. Had she not felt so stunned by the whirlwind of events she might have laughed at how ridiculous it was that she had managed to cling onto the flowers throughout the whole manic episode. To be fair, the flowers were looking decidedly wilted.

Carrie wandered forward to drop down into the chair, abandoning the roses upon the table. and as Hermione moved carefully around the kitchen, summoning cocoa powder and milk, the muggle gazed around her surroundings, eyes coming to rest upon a large cork board that had been leant against the wall opposite her. Numerous pieces of parchment and newspaper clippings had been tacked to its surface, and in the middle of it all was a long roll of paper, atop of which was written in bold lettering vaguely resembling Dora's handwriting:

Carrie Watch

Carrie leant forward in her chair, squinting curiously at the writing underneath.

Monday

0:00 – 3:00: Ginny & Hestia (Reset Protective Charms)

3:00 – 6:00: Bill & Charlie

6:00 – 12:00: George & Angelina (Reset Protective Charms)

12:00 – 18:00: Ron & Hermione

18:00 – 00:00: Remus & Tonks (Reset Protective Charms)

Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday...the list went on and on...

Carrie simply stared.

"Like Ron said," Hermione told her with a smile when she caught the muggle staring. "Remus and Tonks wouldn't just leave you to fend for yourself. You haven't been alone, not for a single second."

As a steaming mug of cocoa was levitated across the room and set down upon the table in front of her, Carrie continued to gaze in wonder at the cork board...

All those noises, she realised with sudden understanding, the footsteps that followed her along the street, the mysteriously smashing glasses, the slamming doors...

It suddenly all made sense...

Next, she took to examining the newspaper cuttings:

_Minister Taken Deathly Ill In St. Mungo's._

_Head Of Aurors' Mysterious Resignation._

_Order Of The Phoenix Reformation: A Disgrace To Dumbledore's Memory_

_New Legislation Passed In Wizengamot_

_Growing Fear Of Heroes Turned Rebels_

_Ministry Speaks Out Against Order's Dark Intentions_

_Disgraceful Muggle's Shameless Confession_

_Ministry Works For A Safer Wizarding Britain_

_Order Of The Phoenix: Our Number One Target, Says Ministry_

"Doesn't look too good, does it?" Hermione commented grimly as she took a seat opposite Carrie, clutching a mug of her own in both hands. "All a pack of lies, of course...as if Kingsley's in hospital for goodness sake! Honestly, they must think we're all a bunch of morons."

"So..." Carrie mumbled at long last, gaze dropping to the steam that was rising from her mug. "The Ministry are...are rounding up muggles, under the new legislation."

"That's right."

"And...and the Order is...doing what, exactly?"

"Hiding, mostly." Hermione admitted reaching to dust a few stray crumbs off the table. "After Harry disappeared and Remus found that Kingsley had gone too, they sent out a message, recalled the Order of the Phoenix. The first thing we all did was pack up anybody the Ministry would be particularly keen to get their hands on – anybody who could vote against the reforms, that was, and Remus...since he's certainly not in their good books, and move them in here. Remus and Tonks set all the protective charms on your house before they left, to stop anybody just apparating directly inside and taking you...and of course they renewed the ones on their house too, the ones that let you inside without a wand, that is, in case you ever needed somewhere a bit more secure to hide."

"Didn't they...didn't they think to tell me they were leaving?" Carrie asked, failing not to sound hurt, and Hermione set her mug down so that she could fold her hands in her lap with an apologetic look.

"Horrible, isn't it?" she observed with a sigh. "Harry didn't like it either...he was unspeakably angry when the Order kept him in the dark..."

"I...I haven't heard from them for a month!" Carrie complained, suddenly bordering on unspeakably angry herself. "Not...not a single word! Not a note or a...a message and...and you've all been watching me! All the time! I mean...LOOK!" she thrust a hand forward to point at the schedule upon the cork board. "According to that, Remus and Dora have been watching me nearly every night for the past MONTH! They...they've just...just STOOD THERE! They've stood there and...and watched me sob myself to sleep over and over again! They've watched me cry and cry and yet they've done NOTHING!"

Hermione's expression was deeply sympathetic.

"I know it's difficult, Carrie..." she began calmly, but the muggle refused to listen. Jumping to her feet, narrowly avoiding upsetting her cocoa over the table, she demanded to know:

"WHERE ARE THEY?"

"Remus and Tonks? They're asleep..."

"I WANT TO SEE THEM!"

"Tonks hasn't been to sleep in near on two days, you should probably wait until the morning..."

"Keeping that good an eye on me, is she? Without a...a single word!"

"Actually she was escorting a muggle family out of Devon and over to Ireland. It's safer over there. That's what else we've all been up to, you see. We're trying to save as many muggles as possible. That and find Kingsley and Harry, of course."

At this noble endeavor, Carrie felt herself sober somewhat and she felt somewhat guilty for shouting.

"Oh..." she mumbled, cheeks reddening, but Hermione went on as if she hadn't raised her voice at all.

"We couldn't let you know what we were doing, Carrie, because if the Ministry had gotten hold of you we didn't want them to find any cause not to Obliviate you."

Carrie frowned in confusion.

"You...wanted them to Obliviate me...?" she said slowly, and Hermione raised an eyebrow.

"Well obviously we'd rather they didn't. But if you knew anything about the Order...well they might have preferred to keep your memory...in tact..."

Carrie shuddered.

"But it doesn't matter now." Hermione said brightly, rising to her feet and turning to look at the cork board thoughtfully. "You're here, which means you're safe."

Carrie watched her draw her wand, summoning a quill pen out of nowhere with a sharp flick of her wand.

"They should have brought me here to begin with." the muggle mumbled as the witch set about scribbling a note upon one of the blank pieces of paper.

"And have you miss out on Cleo's party and flowers and all sorts? I don't think so." Hermione finished her scribbling, turning back to face Carrie with a smile. "Your life didn't have to stop just because ours did. Besides," she frowned over her shoulder at the note that she had just written. "Things were less complicated before you got here. Come on then, I'll show you to your bedroom."

As the witch strode briskly around the table and towards the door, Carrie glanced to see what she had written.

Fix The Winters.

Carrie wondered what that was supposed to mean, but in all honesty she was far too emotionally drained to dare to ask.

She'd been led up a few flights of stairs to the second floor landing and into a small, cramped bedroom that had been decorated with the most hideously dull shade of brown wallpaper that Carrie had ever seen.

"Molly makes us all breakfast for about eight o'clock." Hermione had informed her cheerily as she searched through the drawers of the over-sized dark wooden dresser. "But of course you can sleep for as long as you like...if Teddy will let you. I expect he'll come barging in here the moment he hears you've arrived."

At mention of Teddy, Carrie suddenly felt her heart give a sudden leap in her chest and her gaze snapped up from its inspection of the vulgar mustard coloured carpet.

In the whirlwind of information and emotions she had managed to almost forget Teddy entirely.

"Teddy's here?"

"Sleeping like the rest of them. He's been an absolute nightmare, wouldn't stop asking Remus and Tonks to let him join in watching you. They wouldn't let him, though..."  
>"Why not?"<p>

"They didn't trust him to keep his mouth shut if he saw you upset. The rows they've had...nobody's going to be missing those, I can tell you!" At last Hermione seemed to find what she was looking for and she turned round to present the muggle with slightly crumpled looking nightdress that Carrie could only assume was at least several decades older than she was. "You'll have to make do with this for tonight." the witch said as the muggle took it with a frown. "I'm sure Tonks can collect a thing or two for you when she and Remus go and check on your parents in the morning. It's meant to be their turn to watch you, you see, they were going to take over from Ron and I." With that, she headed for the door, pausing to add: "If you need anything, Ron and I are just across the landing."

And with that, the witch disappeared out of the door, pulling it carefully shut behind her, and Carrie was left alone.

She struggled to fall asleep, her mind was far too active, but eventually she settled into a light dose, waking occasionally at the house's various creaks and groans. When she awoke for the third time, the ancient looking clock upon the dusty bedside table informed her that it was just gone four o'clock in the morning, and she was just beginning to wonder what had woken her this time when she heard footsteps upon the landing outside.

The bedroom door slowly creaked open and for some reason that she couldn't quite fathom, Carrie felt the sudden urge to close her eyes and pretend to be asleep. She didn't feel rested enough for any more confusing talk, besides it was probably just one of the Weasley-Potter brood being nosy...

"Well," Dora Lupin whispered after a long pause. "At least she isn't crying."

Carrie barely resisted the urge to snap her eyes open wide, instead settling on opening them just enough so that she could peer through the darkness towards the door.

And there in the doorway was Dora, pale blonde hair in disarray as she stood, hugging a flimsy pink dressing gown around her shoulders.

"It's a start." her husband murmured from just behind her. Carrie could just about make him out, leaning against the door frame as he peered into the room. Remus appeared to be in a similar state of disarray as his wife, he had only gotten as far as doing up a few of the buttons on the shirt that he had seemingly adorned only a short while earlier, and his hair was clinging to his forehead, wet as though he had just stepped out of the bath.

Both Lupins sighed heavily.

"Well we're in for it now." Dora said, voice still a faint whisper as she turned to look at the werewolf, and he sucked in a deep, considering breath before admitting:

"Yes. We really are."

Through the darkness, Carrie could just about make out the witch's wide grin as she reached forward to grasp the hem of his semi-open shirt.

"Excellent." the Auror murmured, offering him a raised eyebrow. "I do like a bit of excitement, every now and again..."

"Ha." Remus breathed, apparently not quite as amused, only for Dora's amusement to fade too as she squinted at him through the darkness, reaching to run a careful finger across his exposed chest with a frown.

"You should go back to bed." Carrie heard her murmur as he too looked down at himself. "You'll be in a right state if this doesn't heal by full moon. Merlin...to think I almost let Teddy go with Bill that night instead of you!" she let out a small shudder as she muttered: "Doesn't bear thinking about..."

"We're fighting a losing battle where Ted's concerned." Remus said, reaching to catch hold of her hands in his. "It's only a matter of time, you know."

"I know..." Dora let out a resigned sigh, leaning forward until she could press her lips to the hollow of his throat. "Still," she murmured. "I'm glad he let Daddy take one last hit for him."

"I think you'll find Mummy let Daddy take one last hit for him."

"Well...yeah, but don't say it like that. Makes it sound like I like to see you hurt."

"Rather me than Ted. They'd have taken him by surprise, acting like they did."

"I don't like it...not one bloody bit. Who the bloody hell do they think they are, using bloody Cutting Curses...!"

"Shhhh. You'll wake Carrie up."

"I'm just saying! When did it become common practice for the Ministry to be so brutal? Stun us, fair enough, but bloody cut us to shreds...Charlie could've bled to death last night!"

"Shh. We'll be more careful from now on. Come on, let's go back to bed for a few hours. We can grab breakfast before we leave."

Carrie watched as Dora cast one last glance into the room at the supposedly sleeping muggle before she turned to head for the stairs. As Remus turned to reached for the door handle, Carrie caught a brief glimpse of his apparently curse-inflicted injury...

At the sight of the deep slash across the werewolf's flesh Carrie felt her stomach give a horrified jolt and her eyes instantly snapped wide open.

For a brief moment, the muggle's snitch-like eyes met the werewolf's backward glance and Carrie thought that Remus might speak, but before she could open her mouth to do so herself he had disappeared behind the closed door.

And within minutes the good start that Remus had observed was no start at all, for Carrie had dissolved into tears.

Because Grimmauld Place wasn't safe, not from despairing thoughts. Ignorance was far more blissful than she had first believed. To think that whilst she had been sitting around watching television and going to parties, the Order had been putting themselves in danger, getting into scrapes, getting injured...

Merlin...the size of that gash...how it must have bled, torn, ripped...

And it could have been Teddy. It could be him one of these days, It could be Teddy, her happy, cheery, smiling Teddy...

Remus, Dora and the others was one thing. But...Teddy...!

It wasn't right. It just wasn't right, he was too young for all of that sort of thing, they were both still young...they hadn't finished going to school yet!

And yet she had heard Remus and Dora clear as day. One of these days Teddy was going to ask to go out there, stand up like his parents and face whatever the Ministry would throw at him.

One of these days, his parents were going to let him.

One of these days, Dora wouldn't be there to hold his hand.

One of these days, Remus wouldn't be there to take the brunt of the Ministry's curses.

One of these days, Teddy could end up with a gaping big gash across his chest, too.

And Carrie couldn't stand the thought of it. It shook her to the core.

She was awoken again a few hours later by the sound of the bedroom door being flung open and she had just a short moment to muse that, judging by the small gap between the moth-eaten curtains it was morning at last, when a sudden weight upon the bed beside her made her let out a small shriek of surprise.

A pair of arms were flung around her and Carrie was just finding herself being crushed against the bright turquoise fabric of a dressing gown when a familiar voice demanded:

"Don't. Say. ANYTHING!"

Carrie managed to follow this command for about half a second, before she mumbled into the dressing gown:

"Why not?"

"Because," Teddy Lupin announced, withdrawing one arm from around her in order to reach into his pocket. "If Mum or Dad catches me in your bedroom I'm probably dead."

And with that, he drew the wand from his pocket and closed the door with a single neat flick.

Carrie watched, cheeks burning pink as the young wizard proceeded to pull the blankets back from her bed, before climbing in next to her.

"Ted..."

"Shh! Budge up, my feet are hanging off the edge."

Struggling to suppress a giggle, Carrie shuffled sideways, only for him to wrap his arms tightly around her again, face buried in the back of her hideously frilly nightdress.

Merlin, the muggle thought as she shifted in a vain attempt to turn and face him, did it feel good to see him, hear his voice, hug him...

"Teddy..."

"Shhh!"

"But..."

"Don't say anything. Please."

It was at moment that it occurred to Carrie just how tightly he was holding her, how his voice wasn't quite its usual cheery self...

"Is...is something wrong?" she whispered, at last managing to prise his arms away enough so that she could turn in his arms to look at him properly.

Teddy regarded her for a long moment, biting his lip.

He seemed...nervous...

"What's wrong?" Carrie asked again, but the young wizard merely mumbled:

"Don't say anything. Not yet." And with that, he buried his face in her shoulder with a deep sigh.

Carrie decided to ignore him, because no matter how strangely he was acting she could no longer contain her joy to see him.

"I have missed you SO, SO MUCH!" she cried, hugging him back with all her might. "I was so worried that I might not see you again and...and I'm SO glad we're all back together again because...because it was just DREADFUL!"

When this didn't warrant a big enough response from the young wizard, Carrie failed to suppress the urge to reach to and push his head back from her shoulder, seizing his face in both hands and, ignoring the slightly startled expression she found herself looking at, she leant forward to crush his lips against her own. She was vaguely aware that she had never kissed anybody with such irrepressible enthusiasm before, and for a moment she panicked that she might be making a spectacle of herself...

But then it occurred to her that really, she didn't care...

The bedroom door swang open with a audible creek.

"Carrie, Grandma Molly wants to know what you want for..."

Both wizard and muggle froze, lips still pressed together as they stared at one another with wide eyes.

In the doorway, Lily Potter froze too as her gaze came to rest upon the entwined teenagers. The young girl's mouth fell wide open and as she sucked in a deep breath, no doubt ready to scream, Teddy finally came to his senses and launched himself backwards, very nearly tumbling straight off the bed and onto the floor.

"Lily, no!" the wizard managed to hiss as he struggled to kick his legs free of the blankets, but the witch seemingly didn't hear him.  
>"AUNTIE DORA!"<p>

"NO! Lily you CAN'T TELL AUNTI DORA!" Teddy cried desperately, and the child paused in her shouting to stare at him questioningly. "You mustn't tell Auntie Dora," Teddy insisted, relieved at her sudden silence. "She'll be terribly angry and she'll start shouting!"

Apparently Lily was not keen to make her Auntie Dora shout, so instead she turned on her heel, sucking in another deep breath before shrieking at the top of her lungs:

"UNCLE REMUS!"

"Oh bugger!" Teddy muttered, leaping to his feet as Lily went running off down the stairs. "LILS! WAIT A SECOND!"

Carrie couldn't help but feel that he was somewhat resigned to his fate, for he came to a halt in the doorway, staring after his cousin with a heavy sigh

"Bugger." he muttered again as Carrie shuffled up into a sitting position upon the bed.

"Am I allowed to speak yet?" the muggle inquired as she watched him run a frustrated hand through his tangled multi-coloured hair.

"Mm." he consented distractedly, and she asked:

"Why couldn't I before?"

Teddy's shoulders slumped a little and he slowly turned to look over his shoulder at her, peering somewhat shyly through his fringe.

"I thought you'd be mad with me." he confessed, and with that, before she could make any exclamations to the contrary, Remus' voice drifted up the stairs towards them:

"Theodore! Go and eat your breakfast..._now_!"

"Great." Teddy muttered apprehensively, and with that he shrugged off his dressing gown and tossed it in the direction of the bed. "You put that on," he suggested as he adjusted the collar of his stripy pyjamas. "It's a bit chilly down in the kitchen."

Once Carrie had pulled on the dressing gown and Teddy had helped her to roll up the sleeves until her hands were visible, they set off down to breakfast, Teddy muttering irritably about the dreaded conversation he was no doubt going to have with his parents thanks to Lily's telling of tales, whilst Carrie remained silent, concentrating very hard indeed on not tripping over the hem of the dressing gown as they descended several flights of stairs. The muggle had wanted to explain to the wizard that really she wasn't mad at him in the slightest, that she didn't blame him for anything that had happened. Indeed after a night's sleep she was not even particularly upset with his parents, for it had occurred to her after Remus and Dora's early morning visit to her bedroom doorway that really they had probably had an even more ghastly month than she had, they didn't deserve her anger in the slightest.

And all this time Teddy had been pestering them, begging them, arguing, rowing...all because of her. It was no way for a family to behave, not when they could go out one day and not come back...

But they'd done it. All for Carrie.

The muggle felt ashamed to think that she had ever doubted any of them, even for a second.

Breakfast was an awkward affair, what with Lily Potter sat across the table, staring unblinkingly at them as she nibbled at a slice of jam on toast. Teddy managed just one sip of orange juice and half of his scrambled egg before snapping:

"It's rude to stare you know, Lils!"

Lily reddened a little and averted her eyes, only for her brother James beside her to observe:

"Teddy got out of the wrong side of the bed this morning!"

"I certainly didn't!" Teddy grumbled, stabbing somewhat viscously at his egg. "It just so happens, James, that your little sister is a terrible snitch! And now my mum and dad are going to be furious!"

James smirked as he reached to retrieve the jugful of orange juice.

"You should probably avoid the drawing room then," he informed his eldest cousin knowingly, and at Teddy's scowl Carrie leant to kick the werewolf's son under the table, casting Lily's miserable expression a meaningful look.

With effort, Teddy attempted to brighten up.

"Still," he announced with a terribly false smile. "It's not like we were doing anything awful..."

"They were in Carrie's bedroom!" Lily cried, suddenly aghast as she turned to face her brother. "KISSING AND CUDDLING!"

James' nose wrinkled in revulsion as Teddy let out a sigh of irritation. Carrie kept her eyes fixed firmly upon her breakfast.

"That's DISGUSTING!"

"Shut up James!" Teddy snapped, putting his fork carefully down and leaning across the table to fix Lily with a firm look. "Listen Lils," he insisted sternly. "There is absolutely nothing wrong with Carrie and I kissing and cuddling..."

"There must be if..."

"Shut up James. There's nothing wrong with it because...because when a girl and a boy love each other very much..."

"URGH! It's not like when a mummy and daddy love each other very much, is it? Because I don't think I can take this sort of thing so early in the morning..."

"JAMES!"

"Besides, if there is nothing wrong with it why do you care if Lily told Uncle Remus and Auntie Dora about it?"

"Because...! Because...because they might think...that we weren't...weren't just kissing and cuddling..."

"You mean they might think you were having special kisses and special cuddles instead?"

There was a long pause as Teddy struggled to find his voice after this horrifying question, before he managed to hiss:

"Well of course they wouldn't think that, James, because obviously that wasn't what we were doing! We were just kissing and cuddling, there was nothing "special" about it and the reason why Uncle Remus and Auntie Dora are going to be furious is because THEY DON'T WANT ME TO END UP HAVING CONVERSATIONS LIKE THIS ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED WITH APPARENTLY INNOCENT LITTLE CHILDREN YOU!"

There was a long, slightly stunned silence at the metamorphmagus' outburst before Lily finally piped up:

"What are special hugs and special kisses?"

"Ask your dad." Teddy grunted as he snatched up his fork, and Lily's face fell as she mumbled:

"But...Daddy isn't here..."

"Precisely." Teddy muttered, ignoring Carrie's fresh attack upon his shin.

For a horrible moment, Carrie wondered if Lily might start crying, but her attention was diverted by something by Teddy's elbow.

"How pretty!" the young witch exclaimed, leaning across the table to examine the red roses that had been abandoned there the night beforehand, and as the others turned to see what she was looking at, Carrie frowned at the wilted petals as she admitted:

"They're looking a bit worse for wear, really."

Lily's eyes lit up excitedly as she turned to the muggle to ask:

"Are they yours, Carrie? Oh! Did Teddy give them to you?"

Carrie was just opening her mouth to reply when she caught sight of Teddy reaching to examine the bouquet's accompanying card.

Carrie instantly wished that she had managed to drop the flowers en route to Grimmauld Place.

Or better still, refused to have accepted them in the first place.

A small frowned creased Teddy's brow as he eyed the message that had been penned upon the card, before he hurriedly turned away from it, eyes upon his breakfast again.

"Well," he murmured, voice a pitch higher than usual as he glanced sideways at Carrie with a broad smile. "They're definitely Carrie's flowers. They're _for the most beautiful girl in all the world_, after all!"

As Lily instantly began to babble excitedly about what a lovely message Teddy had supposedly written, Carrie felt her face flush with colour...

Where had her voice gone? She just needed to tell him, explain...

"Excuse me a minute." Teddy mumbled, shooting his girlfriend another alarmingly broad smile, and before she could utter a word he had risen to his feet, chair legs screeching against the floor and making Carrie flinch.

"Ted..." she finally managed, jumping to her feet after him, only for him to reach to flatten a stray strand of her hair before suggesting:

"Why don't you finish your breakfast? I need to...um..." He trailed off as he turned on his heel and made a beeline for the door. As he disappeared up the steep, creaking staircase, Carrie felt dread descend over her as she cast one last accusing glance at the flowers upon the table, before making off up the stairs after him with a protest of:

"But Ted! Wait...wait a second!"


	8. Casualties

_Note: And here I have a nice new shiny chapter for you all! I hope you enjoy it! I have, at long last, figured out the actual whole plot for this story! It's amazing what you can figure out whilst sunbathing on the beach..._

_A brief note to **Renata**, since I am unable to PM you! That sounds like a pretty massive task to me, but if that's what you would like to do then sure, translate away! It would be great if you could just make sure that, like you said, you mention that the original versions were my stories, and it would also be nice if you could send me a link to them afterwards so that I know where to find them! Thanks very much for the offer! I'm glad you think so highly of this series of stories!_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor am I making any profit from this piece of writing._

**8: Casualties**

Carrie Winters made it to the top of the staircase just in time to see Teddy Lupin fling open the door to the dingy drawing room of 12 Grimmauld Place and announce to the wizard sat in the nearest armchair:

"I HATE YOU!"

Remus Lupin looked up from his examination of that morning's Daily Prophet to offer his son a raised eyebrow.

"Good morning to you too." he murmured, reaching for his cup and saucer.

"I HATE YOU!" Teddy declared furiously again, stomping into the room until he cast an angry shadow across his father's lap. "YOU'RE GOING TO RUIN MY LIFE!"

Remus returned his gaze to the newspaper, reaching to turn a page.

"Again? I'm pretty certain you told me that I'd ruined your life already, it was...last Thursday..."

"DON'T BE SUCH A GIT!" Teddy shrieked, hands balling into fists, and from her position sprawled lengthways across the sofa, his mother told him:

"Don't speak to your dad like that, Teddy, have some respect..."

Teddy shot the pink haired witch a miserable look as he complained:

"You don't even...even care! Neither of you do, you just...just sat back and...and...!"

"Perhaps," Remus suggested, eyes still glued to whatever article he was reading, "you might care to start from the beginning and tell us how precisely it is that I am _ruining your life_ this week."

Carrie was about to shuffle forwards so that she could get a clearer look into the room, only for Teddy to simply declare:

"Carrie...!"

The muggle hastily retreated down a step.

As Remus gave a somewhat bored sigh of resignation, Dora slid her feet down from the arm of the sofa and onto the floor.

"Listen love," the witch said as she sat up, reaching to smooth her disheveled hair. "I know it's difficult to believe, but Dad and I were in actual fact young once, and we know how it is, but the fact of the matter is it is entirely inappropriate for you to just wander into Carrie's bedroom and..."

"NO!" Teddy cried, throwing his hands up in frustration. "I DON'T GIVE A TOSS ABOUT THAT!"

"Stop shouting Theodore." Remus murmured, taking a sip of his tea, and Teddy rounded on him, seemingly trembling with anger.

"For Merlin's sake, Dad!" the young wizard cried, giving his foot an impatient stamp. "PUT THE BLOODY TEA AND NEWSPAPER DOWN!"

At long last, Remus consented to looking up from his morning read. Both he and his wife stared at their son in astonishment for what felt to Carrie like an eternity, until Teddy's furious expression began to falter somewhat and he began to mumble:

"S...sorry, Dad, but...but..."

He was halted in his babbling by his father raising a hand.

"Out." the werewolf instructed somewhat icily, and his son instantly ducked his head, staring down at his feet.

"But Dad..."

"I will not have you barge in here whilst I'm trying to enjoy a few minutes peace and quiet..."

"It's just..."

"...and be so utterly disrespectful! I'm sick and tired of you shouting at me, arguing with me..."

"I'm not...it's just..."

"...SWEARING at me...! Your mother and I have spent the past month doing nothing but row with you! How in Merlin's name do you expect us to start treating you like an adult when all you do is throw tantrums and throw your weight around like a child?"

"But you don't listen to me..."

"We don't listen to you? We don't listen to you? I swear, Theodore, your raised voice is about the only thing I've been listening to for the past four weeks! Now I have ten minutes before we leave to check on Carrie's parents! I'd like to spend those few precious moments finishing my tea and reading my newspaper in peace!"

There was another long pause as Teddy considered his options, at long last settling on shuffling reluctantly back towards the door, only to pause to glance back round at his parents with dejected eyes.

"I was just saying," he complained, voice at last at a far more reasonable level. "If you'd let me...let me write to her or...or speak to her or something...! If you hadn't just...just cut us all of from her like that...maybe...maybe she wouldn't have...have found somebody else to...to take her out and...and send her flowers!"

And with that he turned on his heel and fled out across the landing and up the next flight of stairs.

Back in the drawing room, Remus and Dora exchanged looks of surprise.

"Flowers?"

"That's what he said."

"Did you know...?  
>"No...did you?"<p>

"No..." Dora puffed her cheeks in exasperation as she rose heavily to her feet. "Teenaged love triangle." she muttered, shaking her head as she reached to retrieve her wand from the coffee table. "Excellent."

"Yes indeed." her husband murmured as he disappeared behind his newspaper. "Because life simply isn't already complicated enough."

Carrie made a dash across the landing and up the stairs after Teddy. She had been tempted to poke her head around the drawing room door, say good morning to Remus and Dora for they had yet to speak a word to one another since Carrie had arrived the night beforehand. There certainly hadn't been the big reunion down at the breakfast table that Carrie had envisaged. Yet any such event would have to wait a little longer, for she was determined set the record straight with Teddy about Ryan.

She found him easily enough, a bedroom off a landing near the top of the house. The door had been left wide open and he was lying sprawled upon the bed within, face buried in a pillow.

At Carrie's cautious, creaking footsteps into the room, the young wizard did not so much as move a muscle, instead he simply continued to snivel miserably into the bedding.

At the foot of the bed, Carrie paused, a horde of butterflies instantly beginning to flutter around her stomach. Nevertheless she drew in a deep breath and mumbled:

"Hey..."

When Teddy failed to respond she sighed heavily and shuffled forward until she could perch upon the edge of the bed. She waited some long minute for him to move or show any sign that he had heard her greeting, but none came. Still, she reached to push the hair back from her eyes, sitting determinedly straighter.

"Listen, Ted," she told the sulking wizard. "I...I know what this all looks like, the flowers I mean, but really...really it's nothing like what you probably think it is! Ryan and I...well, he's Cleo's cousin and I've known him for ages...sort of...and we just went to watch a film together...as friends! At least that's what I thought it was...maybe he didn't...didn't quite see it like that. But you know...if I had...had a phone or something right now I'd...I'd phone him up and say...you know, that he shouldn't be sending me flowers or...or anything..."

"Carrie?" Teddy finally croaked, voice hoarse from his shouting back in the drawing room, and Carrie jumped a little to hear him.

"Y...yes?"

"You're babbling."

"Oh..." Carrie mumbled, blushing, and with that Teddy finally rolled over so that he could face her.

"I'm not upset with you, Carrie." he explained to her surprise. "I'm just upset with _them_."

"Them...?"

"My parents."

"Oh..."

As he reached to press his hands to his face with a despairing sigh, Teddy recalled:

"My dad hasn't shouted at me like that since...since I don't even remember when! And the way Mum looks at me sometimes...like...like she wishes I wasn't there! Sometimes I look at them and I think...I think they don't act like my parents at all! Sometimes I want to just tell them...this isn't the second Order of the Phoenix! You aren't the same as you were back then, you...you've got a son...! All they ever do is...is shout at me and...and tell me to...to leave them alone!"

Carrie stared down at him sorrowfully, reaching to lay a hand upon his arm.

"I'm sure they don't mean it, Ted. I'm sure they're...they're just terribly busy trying to put things right..."

"It's because they're failing." Teddy informed her flatly. "The Order's failing. They can't possibly save even half of the muggles the Ministry has its sights set on! And...and they don't have the faintest bloody idea where Kingsley and Harry have gone! Not a clue! And it makes them frustrated. They probably thought...we took on Voldemort! We took on the greatest dark wizard of all time and came out on top! Screw the Ministry, they're no match for us, not in a million years! But they were wrong, weren't they? They're in way over their heads! And now they Ministry are tired of them, they want to round them up just as much as the muggles! And they'll do anything to get their hands on them! They don't care how they do it, they don't give a toss about...about their own regulations and people's rights! They'll hospitalize them given half the chance...if there was a bloody hospital to send them to! They've imposed a treatment ban on known Order members at St. Mungo's! If they come across an Order member and can't quite stun them they'll cut them to blazes with curses or cripple them with hexes! Leave them for dead! And when they're lying there bleeding to death in front of a street full of muggles, the Order members have nowhere to go! They just get dragged back here and patched up best Hestia can...she's a healer, you know, except we don't even have her around anymore because last week some bastard got her with a splintering hex in the spine! She's been lying paralyzed in that bed upstairs ever since, nobody knows what to do with her! I don't know who the bloody hell is in charge at the Ministry right now, but if it was Voldemort bloody reincarnate I wouldn't bat an eyelid!"

Carrie's grip upon his arm tightened as she bit her lip in horror at the thought.

"It'll all work out..." she mumbled uncertainly. "I mean it has to, hasn't it? This is the Order of the Phoenix, after all!"

Teddy merely shook his head despairingly, only for footsteps to sound on the stairs. Carrie turned just in time to see Dora appear in the doorway, a bowl of something steaming clutched carefully in both hands.

"Ted, Sweetheart," the witch called softly, causing Teddy to scramble up into a sitting position. "Dad and I are going out, we won't be more than an hour at most, alright?"

Teddy merely grunted.

Dora suppressed a heavy sigh before her eyes came to rest upon Carrie and for the first time in a month she murmured:

"Wotcher, Carrie love."

It was, Carrie later supposed, a rather unremarkable greeting considering the previous few weeks' events, but then again the muggle wasn't entirely sure that Dora was up for anything more dramatic or emotional.

She looked drained. Pale, peaky, weary, not really like the Dora Carrie knew at all. There was something rather grey about her complexion, which was bordering on alarming because how on earth would a metamorphmagus come to look that way? And it was strange, but Carrie could have sworn she was thinner...that her clothes had never used to hang quite that way from her frame.

Carrie wondered if perhaps she might be sick...

Nevertheless, the muggle had leapt to her feet and dashed across the room, throwing her arms around the witch, who barely managed to move the bowl she was carrying out of the way just in time.

"Dora!" Carrie squeaked, burying her face in the front of the Auror's t shirt, and Dora consented to giving her a firm one-armed hug in return.

"Ron and Hermione settle you in alright, then?" she asked cheerfully. "Didn't get too sick, did you? Ron's a good flyer but he does like his hairpin turns..."

"I've missed you all SO much!" Carrie complained, voice muffled by the material. "I thought...I thought you'd all just...forgotten me! How silly was I?"

"Monumentally, Carrie love." Dora chuckled, giving her a comforting pat upon the back. "But never mind, eh? We love you for it." Drawing back from the muggle she paused to gaze at her scrutinizingly for a moment before nodding approvingly to herself, reaching to smooth a stray strand of the muggle's hair. "Now then," she said, face falling a little as she glance past Carrie in Teddy's direction. "Molly's made some soup for Hestia, Teddy. Dad and I need to check up on things at home, so do you reckon you could take it up?"

Struck by a sudden desire to show her gratitude to the Order's latest casualty, Carrie reached to take the bowl from Dora's hand.

"I'll do it!" she announced to the witch's clear surprise, and Dora smiled, reaching to straighten her t shirt as she told the muggle:

"That's lovely, Carrie. I'm sure Hestia would much prefer you take it than grumpy guts over there."

"Ha. Ha." Teddy muttered, only for his gaze to snap up to his mother as she told him:

"Good work, Sweetheart, you best keep on with that sunny outlook of yours if you're to attend the Order meeting this evening. We don't do pessimism, thank you very much!"

Teddy sat bolt upright upon the bed, eyes wide as snitches.

"Order meeting?"

"That's right love, you know, when we all sit down together and..."

"But I'm never allowed!"

"If Uncle George tries to tell you that drinking an entire bottle of Firewhiskey is all part of the initiation you have both my and Dad's permission to hex him to Hogwarts and back..."

"But...do you mean...?"

"Yes, Teddy." Dora informed her son impatiently. "Dad and I have decided that there's very little point trying to talk our way out of it anymore, we're only prolonging the inevitable." Carrie saw her throat bob as she stared over at her son, expression solemn. "You are seventeen years old which means sadly for us you're not a little boy anymore. Not to mention we don't think we can stand the shouting any longer. If you want to join the Order...well, that's your decision to make, not ours." And with that she turned on her heel and set off back down the staircase, pausing to call back over her shoulder: "And just so you know, the last one to arrive at a meeting does the washing up afterwards!"

Carrie stood in the doorway, staring after the witch in horror as behind her Teddy finally breathed:

"Merlin! Did you hear that?"

"Mm..." Carrie managed, sickening anxiety instantly seeping through her insides. She sucked in a deep, steadying breath, not daring a glance round at the Order's newest recruit for fear that she might burst into tears. "Hestia's soup's getting cold." she mumbled, and with that she shuffled across the landing towards the stairs, pausing when Teddy called after her.

"Carrie?"

"Hm?"

"It's not very pretty. What's happened to Hestia, I mean. So, you know..."

"Don't freak out. Got it."

Carrie had only met Hestia Jones on a handful of occasions over the years, mostly at parties at the Lupins' house or at the Potters'. She didn't know a great deal about her, though Carrie would suppose her to be just a few years Dora's senior. The other thing that Carrie remembered about Hestia was that she was a giggler. She laughed at everything and anything, and Carrie had always thought her cheer was most likely contagious.

It was particularly shocking, then, to arrive in the attic bedroom at the top of the house to discover the eternally chirpy Hestia lying motionlessly in bed, pale faced and propped up by a mound of pillows. As she approached the bedside, Carrie supposed that the ex St. Mungo's healer was fast asleep, but as the muggle drew closer she saw the witch's lips twitch a little before she murmured:

"If you're here to ask about the lipstick you've found on your husband's collar this morning I suppose I'll just have to come clean about it. It's exactly what it looks like!"

Carrie came to an abrupt halt, frowning deeply as she asked:

"Pardon?"

Hestia opened one eye, the movement slow and sluggish, and at the sight of the muggle she gave a vague chuckle and mumbled:

"Sorry. I thought you were Tonks."

If she were entirely honest, Carrie didn't find this to be very enlightening at all, on the contrary she was more bemused than ever.

"Pardon?" she said again as Hestia's eye drifted closed.

"It's been going on for almost a week." the witch recalled, voice vague as if she were on the verge of slumber.

"Oh." Carrie mumbled, though she still didn't really understand. She felt an odd sense of relief that she hadn't realised she had been waiting for when Hestia added:

"Since I got landed in this bed, I mean. That's when the jokes all started." And then she giggled, albeit weakly, and Carrie suddenly felt a lot more at ease. "There was nobody around, you see." the witch went on, smiling vaguely at the memory. "I'd managed to send a message but there wasn't anyone. Nobody to help me. Except Remus. He was here. It was just after full moon so we made a right pair...he managed to get me up the stairs...into bed..." she paused to giggle again, though she frowned as if the amusement was in some way painful. "By then of course we were both in a terrible way...all red faced and...and out of breath...and that was when...ha! That was when he tripped! He tripped on the rug just here and didn't grab hold of the head board in time! Merlin, he knocked the air from my lungs! And my back! I must've screamed the house down! I swear I'll never heal after that! But it was worth it, of course...to see the look on Tonks' face when she came bolting into the room a moment later..." she trailed off, giggling again. "We've been joking ever since. She says if I don't stop jumping Remus every time he comes to give me a cup of tea she'll have to start charging me for it."

Carrie gave a rather uncertain laugh of her own before she took another few steps forward and told the witch:

"Molly's made you some soup."

Hestia turned her head stiffly to eye the bowl, lips twitching towards a smile.

"Lovely." she murmured hoarsely. "You get lumbered with bringing it up here, did you? They sent James up yesterday...I swear if I hear "Here comes the Hogwarts Express!" one more time I'm going to bite somebody's finger off...little toerag..."

Carrie gave another uncertain snigger, though Hestia appeared to see straight through it.

"They've not told you, have they? That I can't feed myself?" The witch cast a accusing glance down at herself, and when she followed her gaze Carrie saw with a stab of horror that from the chest downwards the Order member appeared to have been strapped tightly to the bed.

"Can't risk moving, you see." Hestia explained apologetically. "Don't want my spine to realign bent and besides, it's agony...my arms, they're so stiff and heavy..."

"I don't mind feeding you." Carrie said hurriedly, not wanting to hear any potentially gruesome details. I'll just...get this chair..."

The muggle sat, spooning the vegetable broth into the witch's mouth for some while in silence before she felt compelled to make conversation of some sort. Her mind appeared very much preoccupied, however, for the first thing that came to mind was:

"Ted's parents are letting him join the Order."

As she slurped the soup from the offered spoon, Hestia seemed entirely unsurprised.

"I was wondering how long it would be before they cracked." she said as Carrie withdrew the spoon.

"How old were you when you joined the Order?" the muggle asked, and Hestia smiled proudly as she recalled:

"I was twenty five exactly. I joined on my birthday."

"You did?"

"Yep. Not the most exciting birthday party ever, but Molly does bake decent cauldron cakes!"

As she scooped up a fresh spoonful of soup, Carrie admitted:

"I think...Ted's a bit young."

"So do Remus and Tonks." Hestia muttered. "But it's not really up to them, is it? It's Ted's decision...still, I shouldn't worry, we'll all take good care of him! It's not as though we're going to send him off on his own to take on a dozen Dousers!"

"What's a Douser?" Carrie asked, and Hestia gave a snort.

"It's the name the press has coined for the Ministry's new squad of Snatchers." she told the muggle darkly. "They're the ones out to catch the Order of the Phoenix – _douse the phoenix's fire_, as it were. Bunch of thugs the lot of them! They're just a rabble of the most brutish and vile individuals the Ministry could get their hands on...Ministry squad my arse! Blood purist fanatical sadists, that's what they are!"

Carrie attempted to swallow the anxious lump in her throat.

"Are they the ones who...?" she mumbled, gaze darting sideways at the bed meaningfully, and Hestia gave a grim nod.

"Some creature who goes by the name of Ambrose Kraft. Or did go by the name...I'm not sure what's left of him since Remus had a go at him the other day."

"Had a go...?"

"Mm. Bet the little sod wished he'd got Remus with a splintering hex like he did me and not that cutting curse. If he had done Remus probably wouldn't have managed to smash the smug faced bastard through that door and over that second story balcony like he did. Bill reckons it was probably pretty fatal!"

When she wandered back downstairs a short while later, Carrie found herself feeling distinctly sick. Never in her wildest dreams had she imagined that life in the Order was so...well...brutal. As she wandered down another flight of stairs she couldn't shake the mental image of Ambrose Kraft being hauled off a balcony, possibly plummeting to his death...

And Hestia had sounded so pleased! So triumphant!

She wondered exactly how Remus had felt to have potentially killed a man, which led her to suppose that after two Wizarding wars, perhaps the werewolf was used to it...

Used to hurting, damaging...killing...

Was it even possible to get used to such things? Carrie rather hoped not, because the thought of it...she could not even imagine...

They were probably all the same. All of them, the entire Order. And yet here they were, joking and laughing and drinking tea and reading newspapers...

It was...disturbing.

This whole thing was disturbing. This...war of sorts, this organisation, these headquarters...

And she felt sick. So very, very sick to the bone and she wasn't sure if anything anybody could say or do would make her feel better. Because if anybody could say anything comforting...say something dismissive about this deeply disturbing life of theirs...

Well it would just make it all worse. So much worse.

The smiles, the jokes, the casualness...

Carrie was surrounded by it. There was no escaping it, it was in the walls, in the air, seeping into her very skin and if she wasn't careful she'd be just like them. Just as flippant, just as casual...

She'd laugh at being crippled and weak, like Hestia. She'd speak of life with bored sarcasm like Remus and she'd grow pale and thin yet make daft jokes like Dora. She'd admit the tragdy of life and yet long to live it anyway, just like Teddy.

It wasn't natural. It was beyond unnatural.

To think, back when Voldemort was still around, they'd lived that way for months...years...

What if this ended up just the same? What if a month could turn into a year...what if it went on year after year...

And they'd keep on laughing and joking and smiling. They'd laugh louder and joke more and smiles would be grins as they were beaten down, pushed, shoved. They'd laugh as the Ministry drowned them, forever smiling faces as the water rushed into their lungs and they sunk deeper and deeper into despair...

And Carrie was frightened. She was frightened that she couldn't laugh along with them, that she'd sooner scream instead. A hopeless screaming burden that nobody could truly relate to because she just wasn't one of them.

She wasn't brave. She never had been. She was a coward. A complete and utter coward and these brave souls were alien to her. They frightened her, intimidated her...

Of course she'd always thought of Remus and Dora as something akin to her guardian angels, her knights in shining armour, a couple of fearless wonders who would always save the day. They'd sorted out bullies at school, saved her from the terrible clutches of Titus Goyle, whisked her away to safety from the furious Richard Avery and the sickeningly evil Mildred Marchbrook. They'd even defended her against the infamous Bellatrix Lestrange and her fellow Death Eaters...

And yet this was different. So very, very different...

Because bullies only needed a stern warning and a clever trick or two.

Titus Goyle had been silenced with threats and unavoidable negotiation.

Their attack on Avery had been nothing more than an aggressive defense and Mildred had been a being, perhaps, but not truly a person.

Bellatrix had to live, there had been no question of killing her, none at all...

But here they were now, the time for amiable debate had apparently passed and off they went, waging war.

That had been what Dora had called it, back at home the night before the horrors truly started. She'd said it was a war. A war against the Ministry.

It troubled Carrie to think of her magical little world being so capable of thrusting itself into darkness. It worried her to think of the Lupins as willing warriors who had, in a way thrown the first punches. She'd never thought the Order to be filled with such enthusiasm for their conflicts.

They were dark days, the Lupins had always told her, when the Order was at war. So very dark, black even. It had been dreadful, terrible...

It made people terrible, Carrie thought in panic as she stumbled down the final staircase into the hallway. It didn't matter whose side they were on, people changed...

If she wasn't careful, Carrie might not recognise them. She'd find herself in a houseful of strangers and it was a horrible, horrible thought...

She wanted out...

Right out...

At the sound of the front door's lock clicking undone, Carrie came to an abrupt halt at the bottom of the stairs, narrowly avoiding tripping over her own feet.

The muggle watched as the door was pushed carefully open and Dora shuffled across the threshold, Remus just behind her.

Carrie watched as Remus turned to push the door closed again and Dora set about wiping her shoes upon the doormat. Apparently it had been raining back in Eddington.

"You're back soon." Carrie observed, voice little more than a mumble, and Dora suddenly looked up from her feet, eyes coming to rest upon the muggle stood leaning against the bannister rail.

The witch visibly paled.

They stared at one another for what seemed to Carrie to be an eternity before she muggle finally managed to wonder:

"What?"

As he reached to hang his coat up upon the nearest hook upon the wall, Remus glanced down the hallway at the muggle, before hurriedly fixing his gaze upon the back of his wife's head. As he reached to pull the jacket from Dora's shoulders, Carrie felt her heart beginning to race as Dora continued to stare somewhat blankly at her.

"What is it?" the muggle asked again, taking a rather shaky step towards the pair. "Is...is it my parents?"

"Tea, Dora." Remus murmured, voice not much more than a whisper, and with that he gave his wife a firm push towards the basement stairs.

And Carrie knew there and then that yes, undoubtedly it was her parents.

Somebody had...done something...something terrible...something...

Oh Merlin...

Dora frowned ever so slightly before plastering a smile upon her face and agreeing:

"Good idea..."

Reaching to grip hold of the bannister behind her, Carrie felt rather as though the floor beneath her was tipping, she felt...faint...

"But...but Ron and Hermione said...! They...they said..." the muggle babbled vaguely as Dora marched past her before fleeing down the stairs. Remus came to a halt just before the girl as they heard Dora's voice below demanding:

"Alright, everybody out!"

Numbly, Carrie listened to the muttered protests and stomping footsteps of the kitchen's current inhabitants, and as she watched James, Albus and Hugo file past her and up towards the drawing room, she tried very hard to swallow the fearful lump in her throat.

"But..." she tried again, struggling vainly to grasp some sort of understanding of whatever bombshell was no doubt about to be dropped. "They...they said..." At that very moment, she caught sight of Ron shooing Rose and Lily along just in front of him and a sudden burst of frustration struck her as she cried: "HE PROMISED!" Despite herself she lunged forward towards the startled Auror, and as her eyes blurred with tears she felt a pair of arms being flung around her, holding her still.

"Alright, Sweetheart." she heard Remus murmur calmly as she crumpled into his chest with a sob that made both Rose and Lily flinch. "Let's go get that cup of tea..."

"I...I don't...I don't want a...a cup..."

"Down the stairs, come on now..."

"Wh...what's...what's happening? What...what have they...they done to...to..."

"Shh. Careful now...that's it..."

"T...tell me...what...what they...I...I want..."

"Nearly there now..."

"I j...just w...want..."

"Last step, Sweetheart."

"But...I...I..."

"Sit down here, that's right, good girl..."

As she found herself carefully deposited in a chair, Carrie might have wondered how on earth it was that Dora managed to set a cup of tea straight down in front of her in such a short space of time, but as it was she barely noticed. Indeed, the world around her seemed vague...insignificant as she struggled to peer up at the two Lupins through watery eyes to whimper:

"I...I want...M...Mum a...and Dad!"


	9. The Escapee

_Note: Thanks very much to the reviewers of the previous chapter! That's about all I have to say, really...! _

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter._

**9: The Escapee**

Carrie Winters watched numbly as Teddy's parents slipped into their seats opposite her and as Dora reached to pass Remus his cup of tea, the muggle felt a furious urge to reach across the table and knock the mug from her hand.

And yet she couldn't move...couldn't...breathe...

"A...are they dead?" she asked them accusingly, eyes wide as she stared at them, leaning forwards anxiously. "Are my...are my parents..."

"No, Carrie love." Dora informed her calmly, reaching across the table to lay a gentle hand upon the muggle's arm. "Nobody's dead."

Carrie waited for her to elaborate, and when she did not do so immediately the muggle felt frustration bubble up inside of her again and she pulled her arm free as she cried:

"Tell me! Tell m...me what...what's wrong! What's happened?"

"Your parents are perfectly safe." Remus said, and as Dora shifted in her chair Carrie caught sight of her reaching to take hold of his hand in her lap. "We're going to make sure there are people around to look after them..."

"Why w...would...why would they need looking after?"

"Listen, Carrie love, there was absolutely no reason for the Ministry to...behave the way it has and if we'd known...if we'd had even the slightest suspicions that they would, then we'd have whisked your parents away just the same as we did you..."

"A...are they hurt? Did...did they get hurt...? C...can...can I see them? I want to see them!"

"Carrie," Remus said, sitting a little straighter in his chair, the small movement making the muggle's heart jolt in panic. "There is absolutely no...easy way to say this so I'm afraid I'm just going to say it." He paused for a long moment and Carrie had the horrible feeling that whatever it was he had to say was so dreadful that he might not be able to say it at all, but at Dora's expectant stare into the side of his head he drew a deep breath and admitted: "Your parents have been Obliviated."

There was a long pause as Carrie simply stared in horror before he confessed:

"Not by professionals, either...I expect the Snatchers did it themselves..."

"We don't want you to panic, love." Dora insisted as Carrie found herself shuffling backwards a little in her chair. "But...but like we've always said...obliviating people is...tricky...and...well if you aren't a professional then...well it can go rather...wrong."

Carrie wanted to ask what exactly she meant by wrong, but she couldn't think enough to speak.

"They didn't recognize us when we arrived," Remus explained, "and we thought that not too much of a problem but...but then your mother asked me...she asked me if I knew who the girl in the school photo was on the wall and...and then she asked me if it was _her_..."

"They don't remember who they are, who you are...they don't remember how to...function..."

"Their minds are broken, Carrie..."

The two adults trailed off into guilt-ridden silence and Carrie simply continued to stare, a terrible, terrible weakness seemed to descend upon her as she struggled to comprehend the information, let it sink in...

And as she struggled to see through the murky, suffocating reality of the situation, Carrie Winters could only think of one thing, the one thing that could make it all clearer...make it all better...

The muggle stared across the table at her two guardian angels, her couple of knights in shining armour, her fearless wonders who would always save the day, and demanded:

"Fix them."

Remus and Dora exchanged a despairing glance before Dora cleared her throat a little and leant forwards in her chair.

"Carrie love," the witch began softly, "listen to what we're telling you, they've been obliviated..."

"So fix them!" Carrie demanded, causing the witch's shoulders to slump. "You...you got them into this mess in the...in the first place..."

"Carrie, we know this is very difficult..." Remus began, voice so infuriatingly calm that Carrie simply couldn't bear to listen to him, and the muggle instantly jumped to her feet, knocking the cup of tea upon the table before her flying from the table, it's smashing against the kitchen floor making both witch and wizard flinch.

"MY PARENTS HAVE BEEN OBLIVIATED AND IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!" Carrie shrieked at them, hands balling into furious fists. "IT'S YOU FAULT, SO...SO YOU FIX IT! FIX THEM! MAKE...MAKE THEM BETTER! PUT THEM RIGHT!"

Again, Remus and Dora exchanged a glance before the latter admitted:

"It...doesn't really work like that..."

"MAKE IT WORK!"

"...that's not really...the sort of thing we just...do..."

"WHAT DO YOU DO? WHAT...WHAT DO YOU AND...AND THE ORDER DO? ARE YOU GOING TO...TO CALL A MEETING? SIT AROUND A TABLE AND...AND HAVE A LITTLE CHAT? IS THAT GOING TO MAKE IT BETTER? IS...IS THAT GOING TO HELP?"

"Let's try and stay calm, eh?" Dora suggested rather pleadingly. "Why don't you sit down, and..."

"I DON'T WANT TO SIT DOWN!" Carrie screamed, kicking her chair backwards across the floor just in case they didn't quite get the message. "I DON'T WANT TO...TO SIT DOWN AND DRINK TEA! I...I DON'T WANT YOU TO BLOODY SIT DOWN AND DRINK TEA I...I...WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE? MY PARENTS ARE...ARE PRACTICALLY BRAIN DEAD!"

"Carrie," Remus said as Dora reached to run a weary hand across her face. "Listen to me very carefully, to fix somebody who has been obliviated...if you even can because the chances are slim...you need specialist healers, medicine..."

"THEN GET SOME!"

"...this is Grimmauld Place, not St. Mungo's hospital..."

"I DON'T CARE!"

"...we're short on bandages here let alone potion ingredients..."

"I...I DON'T CARE...I..."

"We'd not have a clue where to even begin..."

"B...BUT YOU HAVE TO..."

Dora looked up from a dismal inspection of her lap, eyes distinctly watery as she attempted to fix Carrie with the firmest look she could muster.

"What Remus is trying to say, Carrie love," the witch informed the muggle as Carrie reached to grasp fistfuls of hair in agitation. "Is that as much as we wish we could wave a magic wand and make this all better...that isn't going to happen. We can't just _fix_ your parents..."

Carrie instantly reached to clamp her hands over her ears, because she knew exactly what was going next.

We're sorry.

We're very, very sorry...

What would be the point in that? Being sorry wasn't going to make it better, and people said sorry all the time, it was so casual...so...insignificant. And this wasn't insignificant. It was...everything...

Trust them to say something so normal about the most tragic occurrence in the whole of her life...she'd been right about them, they weren't normal...they weren't like her, not at all...

She still wanted out. Now more than ever...

And she couldn't look at them, couldn't be around them, couldn't be in this magical little world of hers that really wasn't magical at all, it was horrible, cruel and terrible...she had to get out before it consumed her...

"Carrie!" she heard Dora call as she turned to flee back up the basement steps. "Come back..."

Their protests fell on deaf ears as she stumbled up the stairs and when she reached the top she heard the sound of scraping chairs as they made after her...

She needed to get away. Get out...

"Carrie...?" And there was Teddy, peering down at her from the landing above...she couldn't stand to look at him, see the concern on his face because really he was just as bad as the rest of them...

Carrie turned on her heel and ran down the hallway towards the front door, ignoring the calls after her as she flung the door open and made a bid for freedom...

She didn't know where she was going, indeed she didn't even truly know where she had been to begin with, but she didn't care.

She just wanted to put as much space between her and them as she could.

Because it was her and them. It always had been, really, no matter what they said. She didn't fit in to the magical world, and now the muggle world that she had at last began to feel at home in was in tatters...all because of them.

The cobbled streets were uneven underfoot and her feet were throbbing in protest. It was not until she had rounded a corner and made it halfway up another streetful of gloomy, tall houses that it occurred to her that she wasn't wearing any shoes. But it didn't matter, none of it mattered, the only thing that was important was getting away.

She reached the end of the street and made a dash across the adjoining road, narrowly avoiding a passing black cab that was forced to slam it's brakes on in order to avoid hitting her.

"Oi!" the cabby shouted out the window at her as she ran on up another road. "Watch it!"

Had Carrie been listening she might have heard the man's irate voice a few moments later when, about to set off down the road again he was forced to slam his foot down upon the brakes for a second time as another figure came sprinting across the road in front of him.

But as it was, Carrie was far too preoccupied with running. Just running...anywhere...

Stray gravel was digging into her feet, her legs were beginning to feel heavy and the relentless pounding of her heart was beginning to make her feel sick...faint...

She slowed her pace, concentrating on the bright red post box that was in the distance. She'd get to the post box...she'd get there and then she'd pick a new target and run there too. It was easier, setting little goals...

It was at that precise moment that a pair of arms suddenly threw themselves around her middle and Carrie was brought to a sudden halt, gasping for breath in surprise as a voice cried:

"Stop!"

Carrie instantly reached to grab hold of the hands at her waist, digging her nails into skin in an attempt to struggle free as she shrieked:

"LET ME GO!"

As he gritted his teeth against a grunt of pain, Teddy Lupin tightened his grip upon the muggle until her struggling very nearly sent the pair of them tumbling to the cobbles.

"Never." he declared breathlessly, crushing her against his chest and flinching at her small scream of protest. "Stop screaming, somebody's going to think I'm trying to murder you or something..."

"Get off! Get off of me!"

"You need to calm down..."

"HOW DO YOU KNOW WHAT I NEED?"

"Well maybe I'm not an expert, but I only want what's best for you, that's all we all want."

At long last, Teddy lost his struggle as she managed to yank herself free from him, spinning around to face him with furious, watery eyes.

"I...I'm not going back there!" she told him shrilly, trembling as his hands fell to his sides. "I'm not going back to that place I...I hate it! I...I HATE MAGIC! I hate magic and I hate wizards and witches and...and everything that goes along with them!"

Teddy's gaze fell dejectedly to his shoes and he shifted a little uncomfortably before mumbling:

"Well...that's a real shame. Because we love you." He looked up at her, expression unexpectedly stern as he informed her: "I love you, Carrie. You can't just run away from me, I won't let you."

Carrie stared at him, the extra weight of emotion making her shoulders slump.

"Now...now I know what's happened is the...the worst thing in the entire world." he went on rather uncertainly. "I know it is, and I wish...I wish it could all be better...I've never wished anything more in my whole life but...but there's nothing we can do. Blaming Mum and Dad and the Order certainly isn't going to help!"

At mention of the Order, Carrie immediately turned and set off up the street again, though her pace was slow, stumbling...

"Running away isn't going to help either!" Teddy insisted, hurrying along after her. "Don't run away from us, Carrie, we're trying to help you!"

"Go home, Ted." Carrie mumbled as he reached to catch hold of her by the hand.

"I'm not going home without you."

"I'm not going with you. Besides I...I don't fit in with...with your life..."

Teddy let out a disbelieving huff, grip upon her hand tightening as he pulled her around to face him again.

"How could you possibly think that?" he asked her, as somewhere in the distance Carrie could have sworn she heard somebody calling her name searchingly at the top of their lungs. "For Merlin's sake, Carrie! Of course you fit in with my life! You ARE my life!"

As she found herself being pulled into his arms, her face buried in the front of his jumper, Carrie felt suddenly as though she had found something to cling onto, something untarnished, in tact...

"Come on now," she heard Teddy murmur soothingly into the top of her head. "Let's go back..."

At the mention of going back, Carrie immediately panicked, and she made to jerk away from him again just in time to feel the sickening pull of apparation take it's hold...

"Carrie don't!" she heard Teddy exclaim in alarm as she made to move away, and quite suddenly cobbles were replaced with concrete and the muggle stumbled backwards, falling to the ground with a thump...

Carrie hastily blinked, heart pounding in alarm and she looked up just in time to see Teddy stumble back into a white bricked wall, his eyes wide in alarm.

"Merlin!" the wizard cursed as he managed to regain his footing. "I could've bloody splinched us!" He glanced past Carrie down the alleyway that they had appeared in with a deep frown as he muttered: "Where in Merlin's name are we?"

The bewildering incident had knocked the sense of stability straight out of Carrie's head, and again she thought she wanted nothing but to get away...

Scrabbling to her feet, the muggle stumbled around the overflowing rubbish bins that were set against the wall and was about to stumble out into the street, ignoring Teddy's called protest when all of a sudden a figure stepped around the corner and the muggle very nearly collided with them.

At the sight of long, scarlet wizard robes, Carrie instantly leapt backwards in alarm.

In a flash, Teddy appeared at her side and the gasp had barely left Carrie's lips before the young wizard had snatched his wand from his pocket, pointing it directly in the stranger's face.

"Don't move!" he demanded, reaching with his free hand to pull Carrie backwards a few more steps, and at last Carrie looked the stranger up and down.

The first and most alarming thing that Carrie noticed about the middle-aged man stood before her was that he was wearing Aurors' robes...

Teddy had drawn his wand upon a fully fledged Auror...

Carrie flinched at the realization, waiting for swift and brutal retaliation, but to her surprise the man didn't move a muscle.

Surely, the muggle thought as Teddy's aim wavered a little nervously from side to side, an Auror would recognise them? Want to capture them? Teddy's turquoise hair was hardly the most difficult trait to miss...

But still, the man didn't move. Or indeed give any sign that he recognized them at all...

As a matter of fact, Carrie couldn't help but think that he didn't really look like any Auror that she had ever met before in her life. He was a rather podgy looking man with thinning mud-brown hair and pale watery blue eyes that were wide as snitches and yet dull...slow...

Were those tears in his eyes?

Abruptly, his eyes seemed to focus upon the two teenagers stood before him and he drew in a sharp, jumpy breath before uttering hoarsely:

"They...they have brains...they have brains down there..."

Teddy began to lower his wand, his brow furrowing in confusion as he asked:

"Sorry...?"

"Brains and...and death!" the man hissed, trembling at his recollection. "I've SEEN them! Seen them with my own eyes!"

"Brains and death?" Teddy repeated uncertainly as Carrie shuffled backwards again, the strange man's eyes and quivering making her uneasy. "Who? Who has brains and death? I'm sorry, I really don't have a clue what you're..."

"THERE HE IS!"

All three of them jumped at the shout from around the corner, and Teddy hastily grabbed hold of Carrie by the hand and they fled back down the alleyway. As they dropped down to hide behind the rubbish bins, Carrie dared a glance back towards the man, just in time to see him drop to his knees, reaching to hug his arms over his head.

"No no no..." the muggle heard him whimper pitifully and at that moment a couple of men dressed in navy blue robes rounded the corner, causing Teddy to reach and yank Carrie back against the wall.

"Get him up for Merlin's sake!" Carrie heard one of the navy-clad wizards spit furiously. "How the bloody hell did he get this far?"

"No! No! I won't go! I won't!"

"Shut up! Get his other arm, Titus..."

"NO!"

"Got him?"

"Yep..."

"NO! I WON'T GO!"

"Merlin, very verbal one, isn't he?"

"IT'S RISING! JUST YOU WAIT AND SEE!"

"Here we go again, alright muggle, shut up now..."

"THE PHOENIX IS RISING!

"I don't think so. The Ministry's clipped its wings!"

"THE PHOENIX IS RISING! THE PHOENIX IS RISING!"

As the muggle's shrieking protests began to fade into the distance, an ashen-faced Teddy chanced another glance down the alleyway and, seeing it empty, got hurriedly to his feet.

"Still want to run away?" he asked Carrie grimly as he pulled her back onto her feet, and she immediately slumped forward, burying her face in his shoulder.

"Oh Ted!" Carrie sobbed, tears instantly seeping from her eyes once again as he wrapped a firm around around her, other hand still grasping firmly onto his wand. "What...what is this? What's...what's happening to my life? I...I can't...I don't know what to do! I just don't know!"

"Come back to Headquarters with me." Teddy pleaded, leaning to press a kiss atop her head. "I know we're not your family, I know you want your parents back...but I love you, I'll love you for forever and a day, I'll never leave you, you'll always have me."

They stood for some long minutes until her tears began to exhaust her and he paused in his staring down the alleyway to reach and push the hair back from her damp cheeks.

"Come on," he whispered, wiping a tear away with his thumb. "You've had a terrible shock, you need a cup of tea and some chocolate. Yes?"

There was a long pause as Carrie reached to swipe the sleeve of her cardigan across her eyes before she managed to mumble:

"Yes."

And with that, they disapparated with a soft pop.

They arrived back to an eerily quiet 12 Grimmauld Place, where a horde of Potter and Weasley children were crowded upon the steps up towards the drawing room in unnatural silence.

Carrie felt a little embarrassed when they all let out a deep sigh of relief at the sight of her and Teddy shuffling into the house.

"Where are the adults?" Teddy asked the rabble as Lily and Rose scrambled to their feet, faces instantly brightening.

"They're all out looking for Carrie." Victoire announced, and Carrie vaguely wondered when she and her siblings had arrived, for they had not been there when Carrie had left the house. "Except for Uncle George and Auntie Ginny. They've gone to Eddington to leave a message for Carrie's brothers."

At the mention of Thomas and Timothy, who she suddenly recalled were due home from holiday the next day, Carrie felt a fresh lump forming in her throat.

"Well then," Teddy said, arm around Carrie's shoulders tightening reassuringly. "What are you all sitting around here for? Vic, you can go and stick the kettle on. James and Dominique, you two can make a start on the washing up..."

"Who put you in charge?" James complained indigently, but his cousin ignored him.

"Rose, you and Al can do the drying up. Louis you can go and fetch them a few clean tea towels from upstairs, and Hugo can go and start running Carrie a bath."

As the children began to disperse to complete their respective chores, Lily hopped down from the step she was sat upon to ask:

"What do I do, Teddy?"

As he led Carrie slowly up the hallway, Teddy plastered a convincing smile upon his face as he told the girl in a hushed, secretive voice:

"You, Lils, have the most important job of them all!"

The little witch bounced up and down upon her heels excitedly as he dropped his voice more than ever and whispered:

"I want you, Lily, to go upstairs..."

"Yes?"

"...into Uncle Remus and Auntie Dora's room..."

"Yes?"

"...and under the bed there's this big golden tin with a picture of a dragon on the top."

"Yes?"

"And inside that box..." Teddy paused for dramatic emphasis, and Lily's eyes widened in anticipation. Had she not felt so emotionally drained and despairing, Carrie might have sniggered. "...is Uncle Remus' SECRET STASH OF CHOCOLATE!"

At this shocking revelation, Lily gasped, reaching to put her hand to her mouth.

"I want you to find me the biggest, most chocolatey, most expensive bar of chocolate in the whole entire box. And then I want you to come back downstairs and give it to me. Got it?"

"Yes!"

"Quick then! Before Uncle Remus gets back and catches you!"

Carrie watched as the witch gave a small squeal of excitement, and with that she turned on her heel and bolted up the stairs.

The normality that had disturbed her just a short while earlier was, to Carrie's surprise, oddly comforting. She allowed Teddy to steer her down the hallway until they dropped down onto the stairs that the children had vacated just a short while earlier. Carrie leant to rest her head against his shoulder as he told her:

"Now, we'll tell the others to come home too."

Carrie later supposed that she ought be impressed to see Teddy cast the Patronus Charm for the first time, especially since she had not been aware that he knew how to do so, but as she watched the silvery figure shoot down the hallway she only managed to observe:

"A turtle?"

"Yes." Teddy agreed, pocketing his wand and reaching to put both arms tightly around her.

"Oh."

"What's wrong with a turtle patronus?"

"Well...nothing."

One bath, a reluctant square of chocolate and a very sugary cup of tea later, the remainder of Carrie's search party had arrived back at Grimmauld Place, and Carrie had consented to sitting down in the kitchen as they all piled in around her, ready to hear Teddy's account of the strange muggle he and Carrie had run into that afternoon.

It did not escape Carrie's notice that Remus and Dora were not among the crowd when Bill Weasley finally called them all to order, and she wasn't the only one to notice, either.

"Where's Tonks?" Bill asked after a moment once he had done a quick head count, and his brother Charlie informed him:

"She said she was...going to have a shower."

"What...now? When we're about to start a meeting?"

"That's what she said."

"Right...and...Remus?"

"Gone for a shower." Ron called from his perch beside the toaster, and Bill's frown deepened as he said:

"What...both of them?"

"Well it IS allowed." Hermione pointed out, shooting Ron's bemused expression an irritated look, and Bill hurriedly cleared his throat loudly and announced:

"Right then, to business! Ted has something to tell us!"

As Teddy recounted their encounter with the strange runaway muggle dressed in the Auror robes, Carrie found herself musing that it really did seem a rather strange time for his parents to disappear off to have a shower...or whatever else it was that they were up to...

Maybe they felt too guilty to face her, she thought miserably as Teddy babbled away in the chair next to her. After all, she had screamed, shouted, cried...

They probably felt absolutely wretched.

And it wasn't their fault, not really, Carrie could see that now that the hysteria had dulled. The only people to blame were the Ministry's Snatchers...

"Brains and death?" Hermione's voice punctured her thoughts as Teddy finished his tale and Carrie looked up to see the witch staring at the table in front of her thoughtfully. "What could that possibly mean?"

"Merlin knows..." Bill murmured, drumming his fingers thoughtfully upon the table. "And why on earth did they have him dressed in wizarding clothing? Auror robes, even!"

"Those bastards at the Ministry are up to something we don't know about, that's what it means." Ron muttered, and beside him Fleur sighed heavily as she admitted:

"I dread to theenk what."

As they began to muse upon the meaning of the muggle's strange words, Carrie found herself distracted by the fact that Teddy's parents had still yet to make an appearance in the kitchen, and when the door opened to reveal a newcomer who turned out to be Minerva McGonnogal rather than either of the Lupins, Carrie felt compelled to excuse herself from the room, forcing herself to offer Teddy a reassuring smile as she slipped out the door and up the stairs.

She could hear the gushing of water from the shower as she climbed the steps to the third floor, and yet as she stood, staring at the closed bathroom door in contemplation, Carrie heard voices drifting out from the bedroom next door. The muggle crept across the landing and peered into the room just in time to hear Remus wonder:

"Do they allow conjugal visits in Azkaban?"

He was lying sprawled across the double bed, showing absolutely no signs of having just gotten out of a shower at all, and from her position sprawled beside him, contemplating the ceiling above them with a frown, an equally dry looking Dora sniggered and told him:

"Not for traitorous scum like us, love."

The werewolf puffed his cheeks in exasperation.

"Well that's too bad."

"Don't worry, if you escape without me there's always Hestia." the witch sniggered again as the werewolf visibly grimaced.

There was another long, thoughtful silence before Dora turned her head slowly to look over at him and she asked:

"Is she better in bed than me?"

For a determined moment, Remus failed to grace her with a response, but eventually he rolled onto his side, propping himself up on an elbow so that he could smirk down at her.

"Hestia? Oh yes, miles better..."

Dora instantly pounced, reaching to push him off balance until he very nearly toppled backwards off the bed, but he refused to be deterred as he recalled:

"She screams and everything..."

And with that, Dora dissolved into laughter against his chest, reaching to grasp fistfuls of his jumper in her hands.

"I'll make you bloody scream in a minute..." she threatened half-heartedly, and he stifled a snigger into her hair as he reached to wrap his arms firmly around her. "So," she murmured after a minute, "how many galleons do you want to bet that Ron pulled The Face when they all put two and two together and jointly concluded that right now we're busy having sex in the shower?"

"I'd bet our entire vault." Remus told her as she shuffled upwards until she could bury her face in his neck.

"I didn't mean to mentally scar them," Dora mumbled as he reached to brush her hair out of his face. "How was I to know we'd both come up with the same excuse?"

"Great minds..." Remus murmured, and they lapsed into a rather solemn silence for two people who had been joking before he admitted: "We'll have to tell them, you know. For...safety."

"They're going to think we're both mental." Dora pointed out, and he shook his head and said:

"We might be mental, but we're also morally obliged."

"Exactly."

Carrie watched Dora shift again until she could reach to tangle a hand in the werewolf's hair, pressing her lips to his throat as she wondered:

"Is it going to be enough?"

"I doubt it." he admitted, one finger reaching to tip her chin upwards. "But we have to do something. For Carrie's sake."

Carrie felt an odd mix of dread and curiosity at the mention of her name and she wished desperately for them to elaborate, but for some long minutes they were more intent on kisses, legs tangling together and breathing beginning to grow ragged before he tore himself away from her lips, eyes screwed shut when they instead found their way to the gap in the shirt at his neck.

"I should get ready." he mumbled reluctantly as his wife's fingers trailed a wandering path down his side. "I said I might go with Minerva and Bill..."

"Charlie can go with them." Dora interrupted firmly, nestling her head under his chin and hugging him fiercely. "Don't go. Not now. Don't leave me, Remus. Not until the time comes."

And he reached to cradle her against his side as his eyes drifted closed and he gave a contented sigh, agreeing:

"Not until the time comes."


	10. Lies and Slander

_Note: Not the best chapter ever, but I promise things are about to get a whole lot more interesting! There isn't a whole lot else for me to say, except thanks very much to everybody who reviewed the last chapter! I know I say that in pretty much every Author's Note I write, but thank you very much, you really do make me smile! _

_Look out for a possible change of perspective in the next chapter! We had Tonks in Meet the Marauders...so I might go for Remus this time around..._

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter._

**10: Lies and Slander**

Carrie spent the remainder of the day curled up upon the sofa in the drawing room with Teddy, pretending to play at Exploding Snap. Neither of them were concentrating on the game at all and after a while they simply sat, staring at the piles of cards rather blankly, occasionally reaching for another square of stolen chocolate.

Remus and Dora did not appear in the kitchen for dinner, and once she and Teddy had picked at their food for a while before returning to the drawing room, Carrie felt compelled to admit to her eavesdropping.

"I think," the muggle confessed rather slowly as she sat, head nestled against the youngest Lupin's shoulder as he set about snapping up the remainder of their chocolatey loot, "your mum and dad are...planning something."

Teddy offered her a raised eyebrow, holding out the chocolate to her as he said:

"I'm pretty sure my mum and dad are always planning something or other these days. It's sort of what they do in the Order, you know..."

"Something to do with me." Carrie elaborated, ignoring his offering so that she could sit up a little and turn to regard him seriously. "And...and Ted I don't think it's something very safe. Or even remotely sensible!"

"It rarely is." Teddy murmured, popping a square of chocolate into his mouth with a unconcerned smile. "I shouldn't worry about it if I were you, it isn't worth the anxiety..."

"Teddy," Carrie insisted, reaching to snatch the chocolate out of his hands so that he could no longer be distracted by it. "I heard them talking! Your dad was saying they'll end up in Azkaban for it!"

Teddy chewed rather thoughtfully upon his mouthful of chocolate before swallowing it, reaching to put a reassuring hand upon her arm.

"My parents can go shopping and get themselves thrown in Azkaban, Carrie." he pointed out light-heartedly. "All members of the Order are on the Ministry's Top Wanted list!"

"But it's not like that!" Carrie exclaimed, eyes widening in frustration at his lack of concern. "You didn't hear them! I mean it, Teddy, they're going to do something terribly foolish!"

"Who's going to do something terribly foolish?"

At the sound of Remus' voice from the doorway, Carrie very nearly dropped the chocolate that she was holding into her lap.

Teddy glanced over at his father to offer him a raised eyebrow as the werewolf leant against the door frame, arms folded across his chest.

"Well," Teddy told him as Carrie felt her cheeks flushing pink in embarrassment. "That all depends, really. Are you and Mum planning on getting yourself purposefully arrested any time soon?"

Remus sucked in a deep, considering breath, brow creasing thoughtfully. There was a long pause before he decided:

"Well, I can't speak for your mother but personally I'm rather enjoying life as a free man. Sorry to disappoint you. I know it would be far easier to steal my chocolate were I stuck on an oversized rock in the middle of the North Sea, but I'm afraid you're just going to have to deal with it."

Teddy sniggered. But Carrie did not feel amused in the slightest.

"Hermione tells me you two played hide and seek with a couple of Dousers this afternoon." Remus said, snuffing out Teddy's amusement within the blink of an eye. "Where precisely were you?"

Teddy frowned deeply, reaching to scratch the back of his neck with a puff of his cheeks.

"Merlin knows...an alleyway somewhere...I apparated there by mistake, it couldn't be too far from here I suppose..."

"What did it look like?"

"Big blue rubbish bins...white stone bricked walls..."

"The pavement?"

"Grey concrete...like everywhere else..."

"Any street names?"

"No..."

"What about the bins? Any writing on them?"

"Higgins' Waste Solutions Limited." Carrie found herself recalling, frowning as the words left her mouth. She had absolutely no idea how she had remembered such a insignificant detail...

She had been staring at the side of the bins, listening to the muggle's shrieks...

Carrie shuddered, only to be snapped from her thoughts when Dora's voice called:

"Sounds like the apparation point beside the Ministry's Visitors' Entrance to me."

The muggle blinked to see the witch appear at Remus' side, faded looking copy of the Daily Prophet in hand, a dumpy, mumsy looking witch's face emblazoned upon the front.

"Here." Dora murmured, holding the paper up for the werewolf's inspection, and there was a long pause as he squinted down at whatever article she was pointing at upon the front page.

"That'll be it, then." Remus decided. "We'll...tell them in the morning." Then, as if there had been no distraction at all he looked back over at Teddy, rather is if Carrie wasn't there at all as he said: "Did you recognize either of the Dousers?"

"Titus Goyle." Teddy recalled, nose wrinkling in distaste. "I didn't know the other one."

"Excellent." Dora murmured, though Carrie didn't really see what could possibly be excellent about it, and then the witch suggested: "Why don't we all sleep on it? See if anybody comes up with any ideas about this strange muggle they had hold of. Then we can...call another meeting." She shot Carrie the briefest of glances that made the muggle's face go from pink to scarlet, and with that both she and Remus turned on their heels and continued on downstairs.

Practically throwing the chocolate into Teddy's lap, Carrie hastily got to her feet and hurried after them, stopping just atop the stairs that they were descending.

"Dora! Remus!"

She watched, a few stray butterflies fluttering in her stomach as the pair paused to turn and look up at her questioningly, and for a long moment she failed to find her voice.

"I...um..." She frowned in an attempt to think of what to say and when she found herself unable to do so she instead dashed down the stairs, reaching to fling her arms around them.

The witch and wizard exchanged a glance before both reaching to put an arm around the muggle, and as she buried her face in Dora's shoulder, Carrie hugged them with all her might.

She had meant to tell them she was sorry, just in case a hug wasn't quite enough. She had meant to plead for sense and rationality, beg them not to do whatever it was that they had planned.

But Carrie didn't say a single word. She was never quite sure why her voice had entirely failed her at that precise moment in time.

But what she did soon know was that she was likely to regret her silence for the rest of her life.

She was awoken next morning from her position sprawled upon the sofa beside Teddy by raised voices.

Carrie frowned deeply at the pain in her back as she reached to stretch her arms, the movement rousing the sleeping wizard beside her and they had barely exchanged a sleepy glance before they heard stomping footsteps upon the stairs and they turned to glance out of the door in time to see Ron come to a halt upon the landing, one hand still gripping the bannister until his knuckles went white.

"HERMIONE? HERMIONE GET DOWN HERE..."

"Ron for the love of Merlin stop shouting!" Dora's voice demanded from the floor below, and Ron spun around to scowl down the stairs at her, face flushed with anger.

"STOP SHOUTING?" He cried, one hand balling into a tight fist. "Are you bloody mad? I NEED SOME BLOODY BACK UP DOWN HERE! HERMIONE? GET OUT OF THE BLOODY BATH! YOU WON'T BLOODY BELIEVE THIS!"

"You're going to wake the children up." Carrie just about heard Remus point out from the floor below.

"Exactly!" Dora said as Hermione appeared, hurrying down the stairs, still in her dressing gown with her hair in a towel. "And besides, we're not asking for your OPINION, Ron, we're just telling you how it is!"

"What's going on?" Hermione asked breathlessly as she came to a abrupt halt at Ron's side. "What in Merlin's name is all the fuss about?"

Ron pointed an accusing finger down the stairs, arm quivering with fury as he announced:

"TONKS SAYS THAT SHE AND REMUS ARE GOING TO..."

"IF YOU FINISH THAT SENTENCE RON, I'LL HEX YOUR BLOODY MOUTH SHUT!"

"Dora..."  
>"I will, Remus! What the bloody hell does he think he's doing, shouting the odds?"<p>

"Well I'm not the only one shouting, am I? Seriously, Hermione, they're absolutely mental, the pair of them! Well I'm telling you now, I won't have it, it's...RIDICULOUS!"

"Oh! Well forgive us, won't you Ron? We didn't know we had to ask your PERMISSION..."

"Dora!"

"NO! WHO DIED AND MADE HIM MINISTER? If we want to do it, well it's up to us! It's got NOTHING to do with anybody else!"

"Just you wait until the others get here for the meeting! They'll be having none of it either!"

"IT'S NOT UP TO THEM!"

"DORA! Come on, let's just...let's ALL calm down!"

As a heated silence descended upon the house, Carrie heard yet more footsteps above and a new voice called:

"What's going on down there?"

Ron's grip upon the bannister instantly tightened again as he looked up towards the ceiling and bellowed:

"GINNY! YOU WON'T BELIEVE THIS, IT'S BLOODY MAD..."

A furious shriek sounded from below and Remus' voice cried:

"Alright! Enough! Come on Dora, upstairs..."

"I could bloody kill him!"

"Shhh. Upstairs."

Carrie and Teddy both stared as they watched Remus march Dora up the staircase, her hair a furious shade of red. As Remus gave her a firm push towards the second set of stairs, Ron reached to lay a firm hand upon the werewolf's arm.

"Remus," the red-haired Auror murmured as Dora stormed up the stairs and turned up a third flight. "Tell me this is a joke."

"If it were a joke, Ron, people would be laughing." Hermione pointed out, frowning deeply in confusion, and Remus made to follow Dora, only for Ron's grip to tighten.

"Remus...!"

For a long moment the two wizards simply stared somewhat defiantly at one another before Remus finally said:

"This is no different than any of the other missions we've had these past few weeks. And we've enough effectively orphaned children to be getting on with without adding any more to the list."

He turned and set off up the stairs, leaving Ron's hand to fall back to his side with a sigh.

"This isn't the same at all!" Ron protested to the werewolf's retreating back. "It's a completely mad idea and it's not worth the risk! For Merlin's sake, Remus! At least now she has you and Tonks to look after her! What'll she have after this?"

Remus paused atop the stairs to glance back down with a small shake of the head.

"We're not her parents." he said simply, and with that he disappeared up the next flight of stairs.

"BUT YOU ARE TEDDY'S PARENTS!" Ron shouted after him, ignoring the warning hand that Hermione placed upon his shoulder. "WHAT ABOUT TEDDY? WHAT ABOUT YOUR SON?"

"Come on, Ron." Hermione suggested, expression wary. "Let's have some breakfast before the children wake up...if they managed to sleep through all of that. The others will be here soon, I'm sure we can all sit and talk about...it, whatever it is. And you can tell them about the muggle, too! You know, I really think you're onto something there..."

As the thankfully more hushed conversation drifted off into the distance, Carrie chanced a sideways glance at Teddy to find him staring at the now empty landing with a deep frown upon his brow.

"I told you they're up to something." Carrie mumbled, and Teddy reached to run a considering hand through his hair before he mumbled:

"Well...whatever it is, we'll just have to trust them."

"Ron doesn't." Carrie pointed out, but he merely leaned to press a kiss to her cheek.

"That's his problem." the young wizard murmured, and with that he got to his feet and headed for the bathroom.

Carrie went up to her room, where she found a selection of her clothes had been left folded upon her bed. She vaguely wondered when they had been put there, she hadn't noticed a bag at all when Dora and Remus had returned with the terrible news the day beforehand. She pushed the door shut behind her and wandered over to perch upon the edge of the bed, gazing dismally around the dim room before she caught sight of a photo in a frame upon the bedside table that had not been there before.

It was the family portrait that usually stood upon the chest of drawers in her sitting room back home.

Carrie reached to pick it up, looking down at the smiling faces. Her father had been late home from work that day, she recalled, her mother had been in a panic because she thought they would miss their appointment with the photographer...

A mere fifteen minutes or so after the picture had been taken, Thomas had spilled a cup of coffee down his freshly dry-cleaned suit. Carrie and Timothy had laughed hysterically and before they knew it they had started a war across the cafe table, bombarding Thomas with screwed up paper napkins. Mrs. Winters had been utterly livid.

_Why can't you just behave yourselves?_ Carrie remembered her complaining furiously. _Why can't you all behave like normal human beings?_

And at the notion that her family were in any way abnormal, Carrie had sniggered into her hot chocolate because really, what with the Lupins living next door, her mother really didn't know what abnormal truly was!

Carrie smiled fondly at the memory, reaching to wipe a spec of dust from Timothy's forehead. Her brothers were due back from holiday later that day. She wondered what sort of message the Order had left for them. _There's such a thing as magic and your parents have lost their minds...you should probably go and stay at your aunt's house..._

She would have to ask later, Carrie supposed. Perhaps she might go and see them, wherever they ended up. It would be a relief to see them, to have her big brothers around.

Carrie reached to put the photograph back down before turning her attention to her clothes. She got as far as picking out a pair of jeans and a t shirt before slumping back upon the blankets, staring up at the ceiling. How long she lay there, thinking, wondering, worrying, she wasn't sure, but she vaguely heard the stampede of footsteps as the children went down for breakfast, the water in the shower ceasing to flow and Teddy leaving the bathroom. She supposed she ought go and have a wash herself before anybody else commandeered the shower, but she was much too lost in thought.

What did Ron know about the strange muggle? What precisely were Remus and Dora planning? What were the Order going to do with her parents? Where would her brothers go?

THUD!

A bright flash of green light lit up the gap beneath the bedroom door and Carrie instantly sat bolt upright in surprise, just in time to hear a voice announce:

"And you're DEAD!"

Sliding from the bed and up onto her feet, Carrie hurried over to the door, pulling it open just in time to hear Teddy complain:

"They're not going to use Killing Curses, that's ILLEGAL, Dad!"

The turquoise haired wizard was lying upon the dusty floorboards, flat upon his back, reaching to rub a pained elbow with one hand.

"Rule Number One!" Remus announced from his position halfway down the staircase to the right, his wand drawn and pointing in an uncharacteristically threatening manner at his son's chest. "Never assume anything! Now get up!"

With a grunt, Teddy reached to push himself up into a sitting position, and was about to rise to his feet when Remus gave his wand a sharp flick and a jet of blue light shot forward, striking Teddy in the chest. As his son crumpled to the floor again with a groan of protest, the werewolf merely announced:

"Too slow, Theodore. Get up."

"Is this really necessary?" Teddy asked with a wince as he sat up again, and Remus walked down the last few steps as he offered:

"Well you can either have me knock you over a few times now, or you can have the Dousers have a try. And believe me, their hexes are good for more than a couple of bruises."

With a heavy sigh, Teddy rose to his feet, wand raised.

"What if I beat you?" he asked with a grin, only for the smile to be wiped from his face when a fresh attack sent him skidding backwards into a wall. His eyes widened as he was yanked upwards, feet dangling rather comically just above the floor.

"If you beat me," Remus told him, wandering rather lazily forward, flicking his wand upwards a few inches and causing Teddy to slide further up the wall. "I will be immensely proud." And with that he gave the wand a sharp swipe downwards and Teddy once again fell to the floor with a shout of protest. "But we'll never tell your mother." he decided as an after thought, frowning at the very idea.

Teddy staggered to his feet again, only for Remus to stride across the landing, coming to a halt just before him, wand jabbing him in the neck.

"That's not fair." Teddy pointed out irritably, only for his father to give a rather dark chuckle.

"Life isn't fair, Ted. What are you going to do about it?"

"Um..."

"You'll have to think faster than that."

"I could...I could knee you in the groin?"

"Go on then."

"Seriously?"

"Seriously."

Carrie shuffled forwards just out of the door to see an odd scuffle occur, only for it to end abruptly as Teddy was send stumbling sideways into a corner.

"Rule Two." Remus said as he took a few steps backwards, wand raised again. "Never be predictable!"

With a scowl, Teddy planted both feet firmly upon the floor, wand again raised.

"Well that's not very good." Remus observed, causing the metamorphmagus to glance down at himself searchingly. "You're stuck in a corner. What are you going to do?"

"Um..."

"Not fast enough!"

"I don't know, Dad! What do you think I should do?"

"I think you shouldn't get yourself pushed into a corner in the first place."

"But if I do?"

"If you do...you're going to have to rely on being a very quick caster. Or at least hope that the enemy is slower than you. Slow them down, distract them...morning Carrie!"

At the sound of her name, Carrie jumped. She hadn't been aware that Remus had even noticed she as there, indeed his eyes were still glued to Teddy.

Teddy glanced past his father to offer Carrie a small wave...

SMACK!

"OUCH! For the love of Merlin, Dad! That HURT!"

"Never take your eyes off the target, not for a single second! Dueling isn't a game, Teddy."

"This isn't a proper duel, Dad."

"It would be if you were taking it seriously!"

"You're starting to sound like Mad-Eye."

"You're lucky he isn't still here. If he was, you'd be a dancing ferret by now. CONCENTRATE!"

An abrupt explosion of spells lit up the hallway and Carrie backed off a few steps, blinking against the flashing lights, only for them to end abruptly, Teddy stumbling into the wall again as he barely managed to keep hold of his wand.

And quite suddenly a hand enclosed around her wrist and Carrie found herself pulled out into the middle of the landing, a wand jabbing her throat.

"Now what are you going to do?" Remus asked, as Teddy's eyes widened at the sight of his hostage.

"Um...well...nothing."

Carrie was about to snigger, when Remus nodded approvingly and said:

"Exactly. It's not worth the risk, Ted. It is important to realise when you're beaten. Push these people too far and losing will be all the more dangerous. If you have to surrender, do it calmly and agree to go quietly. That way they'll have no reason to do you any more harm."

As she was released, Carrie shuddered, only to jump at a sudden crackling sound and she had barely spun around towards the source of the noise when there was a flash of purple and Remus crashed forwards onto the floor with a hiss of pain.

"SPACIAL AWARENESS!" Dora's voice barked as the Auror marched down the stairs towards them. "Be aware of what and WHO are around you! Don't let yourself get flanked!" She came to a halt beside her husband's sprawled form, eying him with a small frown. "Alright, love?" she asked conversationally, and the werewolf grunted:

"Never better, darling."

"Great." she said, smiling brightly. "I'm going to go and make a cup of tea, d'you want one?"

"No thank you."

"Alright then. Morning, Carrie love!"

And with that, the witch continued on down towards the ground floor, leaving her husband to drag himself stiffly back onto his feet as he called after her:

"You'll leave Ron alone, won't you?"

"Sorry, didn't catch that!" she called from the floor below, and as Remus reached to rub an aching shoulder with a frown he muttered:

"No, I don't suppose you would."

In the brief interlude between duels, Carrie made a run for the bathroom.

She was washed and dressed in time to arrive down in the kitchen and find Molly and Arthur sat drinking tea with Ron, Hermione, Minerva McGonnogal and Ginny. She went to pour herself a cup of tea and was just beginning to wonder what she would have for breakfast when she turned round from the teapot to spot the Order members around the table all looking at her. As soon as she turned, however, they all appeared to be very interested in their teacups.

"Well," McGonnogal announced as Arthur reached to give Molly a firm tap upon the arm for staring a moment too long. "That's a very interesting theory, Ron. In fact I'm sure there's something to it."

Carrie was pretty certain that when she had first entered the room they had been talking about the Headmistress' current search for a new Arithmacy professor for the new school term in September, and not Ron's theory at all. When she caught them staring a second time once she had retrieved the milk from the fridge, the muggle was also certain that she was not imagining things at all.

They feel sorry for me, she thought, blushing a little at the thought. They're all thinking: poor little muggle...

She decided at that moment that she didn't fancy a cup of tea at all. Instead, she took it upstairs to Hestia.

When she arrived at the top of the house, reaching to knock carefully upon the door, Carrie was not graced with an answer and when she reached to push the door open a crack so that she could peer inside, she found that Hestia was fast asleep. The muggle let out a small sigh of disappointment as she slipped into the room and tiptoed towards the bed. She had rather fancied sitting and having a chat with the cheery, frizzy haired witch, get away from the chaos of the rest of the house, the pitying stares...

Somebody had already brought one cup of tea up some while earlier, but it had grown cold. Carrie reached to pick it up and replace it with the fresh cup, and as did so she spotted that whoever had brought the old cup of tea had also left Hestia some reading material.

It was the faded Daily Prophet that Dora had shown to Remus earlier that morning. Carrie recognized the dumpy witch pictured on the cover. She abandoned the cold cup of tea upon the bedside table and reached to pick up the paper, unfolding it carefully to examine the front page.

The pictured witch blinked up at the muggle, a timid expression upon her soft, motherly features. She rather reminded Carrie of Molly Weasley, though Carrie would never describe the Weasley matriarch as timid in the slightest. The woman was dressed in neat, rather plain looking robes, a logo of some description stitched upon one side and a name tag pinned to the other, though Carrie could not make out the words written upon it. She noted the date printed in one corner, seeing that the paper was a week or so old, before turning her attention to the main headline.

_ORDER SYMPATHISERS BLIGHT MINISTRY'S HOSPITAL IMPROVEMENTS._

_A mere two weeks after the Wizengamot passed emergency legislation to defend against the increasingly hostile interferences of the renegade Order of the Phoenix, the subsequent improvements that so many have welcomed at St. Mungo's Hospital have been undermined by hospital employee Griselda Gushweed. _

_Under new laws, all members of the Order are banned from receiving medical treatment at the hospital. Meanwhile any muggles brought to reception are transferred to a new, Ministry-run establishment more suited to their needs. All those entering the hospital are required to provide satisfactory identification before receiving treatment. _

"_Before the legislation St. Mungo's spent an unreasonable percentage of both it's budget and resources on caring for muggles." Ministry representative Roderick Mortell told reporters outside of the hospital yesterday evening. "But now that they can be dealt with somewhere else the healers and other staff are more able to concentrate on what is most important: caring for the Wizarding population. Waiting times have almost halved overnight and there are substantially more beds available for patients who might otherwise have gone without. This is a great step forward for St. Mungo's and we at the Ministry are very pleased with the progress being made."_

_But Griselda Gustweed, one of the hospital's Welcome Witches, strongly disagrees with Mr. Mortell's assessment of the situation. Indeed Mrs. Gustwood of Godric's Hollow disagrees so strongly that she has gone as far as to breach the Ministry's new regulations, when last week she was caught and formally cautioned for attempting to admit a muggle into a Spell Damage Ward. In a statement just outside of the Ministry of Magic this morning, having just attended a disciplinary hearing, Mrs. Gustwood claimed not to regret her actions in the slightest._

"_What the Ministry has done to St. Mungo's is an utter disgrace. Banning anybody from receiving our help is beyond shameful and goes against everything that the hospital stands for. I don't care if muggles have somewhere else to go – if they come to us we should help them. As for banning the Order of the Phoenix, I've never heard of anything so awful in all my years. If the Ministry has so quickly forgotten all we owe to our heroes, then shame on them!"_

_Mrs. Gustweed went on to claim that many of her colleagues thought the same way as she did, however no other hospital employees turned up to support her at her trial. In response to her comments, the Ministry released the following statement:_

"_We fully understand Mrs. Gustwood's disappointment that such harsh measures have been taken against the Order of the Phoenix and it was a sad day in the Wizengamot for us all when we decided upon these severe measures. However it is important for everybody to realise exactly what this third Order stands for: these are no defenders of the people, they are nothing short of terrorists. Without the guidance of Albus Dumbledore the organization has grown corrupt and dangerous. It is a sad fact that fame and renown can go to people's heads and leave them to believe that they are above everybody else. It is shocking and upsetting that the Order, who were for so long a symbol of unity against the Dark Arts have degenerated into little better than the Death Eaters they once fought against."_

_The statement went on to report how in the past week the Order's behavior has grown steadily more dangerous and hostile. One particularly damning incident occurred on Tuesday, when five Order members, identified as Charlie Weasley, Hermione Weasley, Hestia Jones, Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Lupin attacked Ministry workers in Portsmouth. The house of elderly witch and widow Emily Greenwood was set ablaze and two Ministry employees were hospitalized, one having been struck repeatedly with the unforgivable Cruciatus Curse. Though the Ministry was unable to identify which Order member was responsible for this particularly terrible act, they did speculate that such shameful behavior was becoming common practice for the Order. _

"_The Order of the Phoenix came into contact with Unforgivable Curses frequently during the War," the Ministry statement reports. "Not only that, but a number of members have been senior figures in the Auror Department for many years. These people have an understanding of these curses far beyond the norm."_

_The Ministry also spoke out against Mrs. Gustwood's complaints about the treatment of muggles, insisting that they were not losing out in the slightest and that the new streamlined system was doing wonders for the Wizarding community..._

"Ridiculous, isn't it?"

Carrie gave a small jump, glancing up to find Hestia peering up at her, a vague smile upon her thin, chapped lips. "Unforgivable Curses my arse! It's not Tonks' fault she can reduce a grown man to tears at thirty paces with those stinging hexes of hers! The moron should've learnt how to dodge properly!"

Carrie managed a rather uncertain smile as she reached to put the paper back down upon the table.

"I um...I brought you some tea." she said, gesturing vaguely in the steaming beverage's direction, and Hestia offered her a grateful grin, only to yawn widely.

"How are you today?" Carrie asked her, and the witch let out a heavy sigh as the muggle reached to pick up the tea.

"Sore...they tell me they're running out of triple strength pain potions. Remus says had he known he wouldn't have downed two last full moon. That's ridiculous of course, can't have him off his feet too long, the man's got work to do!"

As she carefully held the cup up to the witch's lips, Carrie swallowed a lump in her throat.

"He certainly does." she agreed dismally, and after taking a few sips, Hestia let out another sigh as she recalled:

"We're lucky to have as few injuries as we do. They're brutal, the Ministry's Dousers. Every time they take muggles it's like Queenswood all over again but with the roles reversed."

"Where is Queenswood?" Carrie wondered, reaching to snatch up a tissue from the bedside table as a stray few drops of tea dribbled down the witch's chin. For a moment Hestia paused, vaguely embarrassed as the muggle mopped up the mess, before she recalled:

"It's a village in Kent...always been very popular, there have been wizards living there on and off since the Middle Ages. Not too busy, you see, they've only got a couple of shops and a pub...nice place, Charlie says. He used to have a girlfriend who lived there, when he was at Hogwarts...didn't last long, he told me once, what with his ongoing prank war with Tonks. Girlfriend got jealous or something, thought the two of them had some sort of insane love-hate relationship going on. Laughable really...can you even imagine them? Charlie and Tonks an item? Ha! Anyway the muggles extended the railway from London out to Queenswood, so it's started to get busier these past ten years...no wonder there was so much trouble!"

There was a long pause as Hestia drunk some more tea, before the dreaded subject finally arose and Carrie felt her stomach twisting into knots.

"I heard about your parents." Hestia said, voice suddenly uncharacteristically soft. "I'm so sorry, it must be awful."

"Mmm." Carrie mumbled, shifting her feet uncomfortably, and Hestia's fingertips brushed feebly against her arm, a vain and struggled attempt at comfort.

"You've got all of us, you know." the witch murmured. "You've got the Order. And Remus and Tonks and Teddy, they'll always be around for you."

"Remus and Dora are...planning something." Carrie said, gaze upon the witch suddenly piercing. "Do you know anything about that?"

Hestia frowned deeply, biting a lip in thought.

"That would depend..." she mused. "Has it to do with the muggles in Swansea?"

"No. It's something to do with me, something they think they are obliged to do for me." Carrie explained, before out of the corner of her eye she caught sight of the newspaper again. "And something to do with that newspaper article."

There was a long pause as Hestia struggled to turn her head to gaze considerately at the newspaper, before she sucked in a slow, deep breath and muttered:

"Well they've got balls, I'll give them that."

Carrie's eyes widened and she leant forward a little, heart beginning to race in her chest.

"What? What do you know?"

Hestia pulled a face.

"Well, nobody's said anything to me about it, so I can't say I really know anything." the witch said as the muggle leant forward even more. "But if I know Remus and Tonks...which I reckon I do pretty well..."

"Yes?"

"I'd say they were going to try and smuggle your parents into St. Mungo's."


	11. The New Rules

_Note: Hello again! I would just like to say in advance that I will under no circumstances apologize for the following cliffhanger. _

_Besides, you should all know me better than that by now!_

_Also, hello to** Pinguim de Pudim**! Nice to meet you, it was great to hear from you and I'm glad you are enjoying the series! **This chapter is dedicated to you**, for being a New Face! _

_I hope everybody else is still enjoying this story! Thanks so much for anybody who takes the time to write a review – you really do spur me on to write more/faster!_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter._

**11: The New Rules**

Carrie Winters burst into the kitchen of Number Twelve Grimmauld Place just in time to hear Ron Weasley observe:

"Ah, here she is!"

As she came to an abrupt halt just inside the doorway, Carrie found herself confronted with what looked to be the beginning of a rather important meeting of the Order of the Phoenix. Breathlessly her eyes roamed urgently around the room, and she had just spotted Dora and Remus huddled in one corner when she heard the sound of chair legs scraping against flagstones and Molly Weasley suggested:

"Why don't you sit down, Carrie dear? Ted was just about to come and fetch you."

As Teddy rose from his chair and reached to steer the muggle into the vacated seat with a reassuring smile, Carrie could manage nothing but to stare over at his parents. She had meant to run and beg them not to do it, not to take the risk because she wasn't sure she could stand the anxiety of it all...

But with a table and crowd of people stood between her and the couple, the muggle's fierce resolve that had flared up as she fled from Hestia's room a few minutes previously was snuffed out within the blink of an eye...

In fact the whole atmosphere was...daunting...

She felt Teddy's hands come to rest upon her shoulders, his thumb reaching to scuff her cheek rather soothingly as Ron said something that the muggle found, quite frankly, alarming.

"We've never had a muggle join the Order before...unless you count Mrs. Figg..."

"Ronald!" Hermione hissed, reaching to give her husband a sharp tap upon the arm, and Carrie felt the breath catch a little in her throat before Remus interjected:

"Carrie isn't joining the Order...unless she wants to, of course."

"Well we can't really go ahead without her..."

"RON!"

"We'd find another way. Nobody has to do anything they don't want to."

As she watched rather numbly as Dora reached past Remus to retrieve a bottle that was set down beside the bread bin, Carrie manage to find her voice at last.

"You want me to...join the Order?"

"Merlin, no!" Dora muttered as she unscrewed the bottle lid, tossing it onto the countertop beside her. "Bloody terrible idea..."

"Don't be such a hypocrite, Tonks!" Ron snapped, folding his arms firmly across his chest. "If I'm not allowed to shout down your idiotic plans, you can keep your mouth shut about mine. Besides, if Ted's old enough to join, so is she."

"We've done her enough harm already." Dora half-whispered, and she was about take a generous swig from the bottle when Remus snatched it from her hand, narrowly avoiding slopping drink down the front of her robes.

"Let's try and have an adult discussion about it." the werewolf suggested as he set the bottle firmly down beside him. "In the end, it's all up to Carrie. If she wants to help with whatever Ron has planned, that's entirely up to her."

Silence fell over the room and Ron cast one defiant glare in Dora's direction before addressing the gathered Order members as a whole.

"I've been thinking," he said, as Carrie attempted to shake off the confusion and panic that was assaulting her head so that she could listen carefully, "about the muggle in the Auror robes, and what he said to Teddy and Carrie about brains and death. Tonks is right about the alleyway, it sounds like the one beside the Ministry's visitors' entrance, and he said they've got brains and death down there. Well...that's obvious isn't it? He meant they've got brains and death down in the Ministry. And where in the Ministry are there brains and death? Well, that's pretty obvious too when you think about it." He paused expectantly, waiting for somebody to agree with him, but it was not for a long moment that Ginny finally guessed:

"The Department of Mysteries."

Instantly a murmur of realization rippled through the room as Hermione recalled:

"There was a room full of brains down there..."

"The Thought Chamber." Dora and Ron identified simultaneously, just as another voice recalled:

"And the Death Chamber, where the Veil was."

Carrie glanced down the table to look at the speaker, surprised to spot somebody she had yet to see at Grimmauld: Neville Longbottom.

The Herbology professor was sat between George and Arthur, and the sight of him made Carrie blink, he looked so much like his father Frank...

Recalling what had become of Frank and Alice Longbottom made Carrie shudder. She wondered how her own parents' mental state compared to that of Neville's. She felt Teddy give her shoulders a reassuring squeeze before he reached to sweep the hair back from her face, fingers snagging on a stray few knots.

"They're sending muggles into the Department of Mysteries?" Bill said from his position sat just in front of Remus and Dora, and as she looked over at him Carrie watched Remus reach for the bottle that he had confiscated, taking a generous gulp himself.

"What in Merlin's name would they do that for?" Charlie wondered, frowning deeply, only for Ron to say:

"Well that's what we need to find out. That's where Carrie comes in."

At the mention of Carrie becoming involved, Dora snatched the bottle out of Remus' hand and took a swig. The werewolf reached to slip an arm around her, expression grim.

"The only people who can just waltz into the Ministry these days are Dousers bringing muggles in to be processed." Ron went on, and Carrie was already sure that she didn't like where this explanation was going in the slightest. "Now we've not got time for Polyjuice and the Ministry would be all over us like a rash if we tried to buy it anywhere. But we do happen to have two metamorphmaguses amongst us. Tonks or Teddy can easily disguise themselves as a Douser, wander into the Ministry with Carrie and have a good poke around. Obviously there would be a hell of a lot of security to deal with, but let's face it, the only people we really have to worry about are the Dousers and those nutcase officials from the Wizengamot. The average Ministry worker doesn't give a toss who's coming in or out, they won't be on alert at all. The rest of us are going to have to cause as big a distraction as possible...set fire to a few more widows' houses and that sort of thing..."

"Ron!"

"...kick up a massive fuss! Empty the Ministry of as many of the bastards as possible to give those inside a fighting chance!"

As the assembled Order members began to murmur to one another in a disconcertingly excited fashion, Remus pointed out:

"There are five Dousers per unit and the panic alarm at St. Mungo's can summon three units in under five minutes. You'll never get so many of them in one space at a time like that anywhere else. If that isn't kicking up a massive fuss, I don't know what is."

Silence.

When the rest of the Order managed little beside downcast expressions and the occasional uncomfortable shift in their seats, Dora paused in her toying with the bottle in her hand.

"Well," the pink haired witch murmured, causing Carrie's gaze to snap back over to her. "That'll be our contribution to chaos, whether anybody thinks it's foolish or not. And while we're at it, we'll take Carrie's parents with us."

Say something, a voice in the back of Carrie's head demanded. For goodness sake, tell them not to do it...

But Teddy beat her to it.

"Be careful." the young wizard requested quietly, and his mother offered him a oddly bright smile as she said:

"As if Dad and I would ever be anything else!"

And then Teddy had shrugged.

That was it.

No pleading, no begging, no protests. He'd simply agreed to watch his parents walk out the door and not come back.

Because Remus and Dora wouldn't come back, not like the others. They simply wouldn't, Carrie was sure of it, not when there would be so many Dousers in such a small space. They were headed straight for Azkaban, and Merlin knew how long it would be until Teddy saw them again.

Carrie simply didn't understand it, how could he simply stand there...shrugging as if he didn't care...

"Right," Ron said, a not of resignation in his voice. "Any more volunteers?"

Every remaining Order member raised a hand.

And so it was that the Order of the Phoenix planned a mass attack upon the Ministry of Magic's current key points of operation, from a small village in the highlands of Scotland to the streets of London back down south, all to commence at precisely twelve o'clock noon that very day.

The speed at which the basement kitchen emptied once everybody had been given their instructions as somewhat alarming, and Carrie had barely dragged her mind back from the daunting realization that she and Teddy were about to infiltrate the Ministry of Magic itself when she realized that Remus and Dora had already disappeared from the room.

She immediately left Teddy deep in discussion with Ron and Arthur about which Douser he would best be able to imitate, and hurried up the staircase, squeezing past a wizard or two in her haste to catch up with the couple.

She caught sight of them at the front door, both donning long, black cloaks, engrossed in murmured conversation, Dora still had hold of the bottle of drink as Remus reached to pull open the front door.

"Wait!" Carrie called after them, but her voice was drowned out by the babble of conversation from the Order members clustered in the hallway, and she immediately made a beeline for the door, pushing past a couple of Weasleys and narrowly avoiding tripping over the umbrella stand as she went.

She reached the edge of the crowd just in time to see the door click shut behind them. She ran down the remainder of the hallway, reaching to fling the door wide open, drawing breath to shout their names...

She caught a brief glimpse of them at the bottom of the steps, arm in arm, apparently midway through a good-natured squabble, and she was about to shriek for them at the top of her lungs when they disappeared with a pop, leaving Dora's laughter echoing around the grimy concrete street.

And that had been the last opportunity that Carrie Winters had to speak to Remus and Dora Lupin and beg them not to leave. All that was left of them when the muggle stumbled despairingly out into the street a few moments later was a half empty bottle of Fire Whiskey balanced precariously upon a wall.

She never forgave herself for her silence.

Not ever.

Remus Lupin hated hospitals. He had hated them for as long as he could remember.

Well...almost.

His first memory of visiting St. Mungo's Hospital had been an exciting one. He had only been about four years old at the time, his mother had taken him with her whilst she visited a friend who had had an unfortunate accident with an over-enthusiastic pair of charmed knitting needles. The first thing that had impressed him at the time was just how big a place it had been and how busy it was. He had driven his mother to distraction with his constant questions: What's down that corridor? What's that lady doing? Why is that man's head so shiny and green? And most important of all: Don't you think he looks silly, Mummy? Why mustn't I laugh at him? Doesn't he realise how silly he looks?

Remus' next trip to the hospital had been as a patient under a year later. That whole day had been a bit of a blur, but had successfully cemented his hatred of the place for the rest of his life.

Being poked and prodded and smothered in bandages whilst you attempted to scream the building down, before being told you were infected with an incurable disease had a habit of doing that to a person, he later supposed, even if you were only five years old and really had no idea just how dismal your life was going to be from that moment on.

He'd spent the following ten years or so being dragged to and from the hospital by his parents on a regular basis, to see specialists who would tell them, just like everybody else, that there was nothing to be done to help the situation. They always managed to reduce his mother to tears, though personally Remus had never been too affected by the repeated bad news because he had very quickly given up on hearing anything more positive. At the age of fifteen he had finally thrown a big enough tantrum to make the visits end, though the ward healers had still known him by name for several years afterwards because he would show up on a stretcher ever once in a while after a particularly rough full moon.

He had visited Lily and the newborn Harry just before visiting hours had ended the day of Harry's birth. Of course he'd known about it for hours before going, Sirius had dropped everything to floo over there to visit and had told Remus all about the new arrival. But it had taken Remus some while to persuade himself to go, it would be the first time that he had gone to the hospital voluntarily in many years and just as he had predicted it had made him feel sick to the core.

When he visited Arthur Weasley there after the attack in the Department of Mysteries, Remus hadn't been to St. Mungo's in over a decade. He'd coped far better that time around, so much so in fact that when Dora had landed herself in a ward there after the Battle of the Department of Mysteries he had barely hesitated to go and visit her at all. And that had been just after Sirius, too. He'd been quite proud of himself, in what he supposed was a slightly pathetic way.

When he had taken two year old Teddy in with a suspected case of dragon pox that had turned out to be nothing dangerous at all, he hadn't really felt nervous at all, just a little queasy.

So, by the time he came to take Carrie's parents to the hospital, Remus hadn't felt anxious at all.

He certainly hadn't been in need of any form of liquid courage.

That had been entirely Dora's idea.

"I'm not tipsy." his wife informed him for what he suspected was at least the fifth time as they walked down the street towards their house. "I was just feeling a bit...you know..."

"Nervous?" Remus supplied, his grip upon her hand tightening at the suggestion, and she frowned deeply and mumbled:

"Mm." They passed a couple more houses in silence before Dora explained: "I'm not nervous about us going, I'm nervous about them going, if you see what I mean."

"Mm."

"It's just...I can't help but wonder what we're going to do if...if Gushweed won't help us."

"Mm."

"Do you have a plan? For if she refuses?"

At this question, Remus pursed his lips together and offered her a raised eyebrow.

"I was always under the impression that we always left the Brilliant Plans up to you." he explained, and she looked a little smug.

"True. But this was sort of your plan in the first place."

"My point precisely. You saw the looks on everybody's faces, this is a terrible plan!"

"Hm. Well, if it makes you feel any better, I don't have any brighter ideas."

Three houses later and their pace had slowed to a reluctant shuffle until eventually they came to a complete stop, her head resting against his shoulder.

"Do you think we should have said something?" Dora wondered, sighing heavily. "To Teddy, I mean? Or Carrie?"

"What could we possibly say?"

"Good point."

There was a long pause before she turned to face him, reaching to take hold of his other hand in hers.

"What are you going to say to me, d'you think?" she asked, peering up at him intently, and he drew in a deep, uncertain breath before deciding:

"Nothing. I don't need to. Not with you." He gave her hands a gentle tug towards him until he could lean to brush a kiss to her forehead and she reached to tuck her arms around him as he asked: "What are you going to say to me?"

"It's a surprise." she murmured, tilting her head to look up at him, a mischievous glint in her dark eyes.

"It usually is." he admitted, yet their gazing had grown so focused that they both quite forgot to laugh.

"This is all happening very fast, this little war of ours." she admitted with a frown.

"It's going to be over very fast too, for us at least."

"Shame really, I'm a bad loser."

"Try and lose gracefully, won't you?"

"I'm pretty sure I've never done anything gracefully in my entire life, Sweetheart. Those shackles they're going to clamp me in, I don't know how I'll take a single step!"

Remus squeezed his eyes shut and drew a deep, slightly shuddered breath.

"There it is..." he whispered with a grim smile. "That's it. What's happening...it's finally sinking in..."

And with that, he threw his arms around her, crushing her against his chest with a sigh.

"Hurts, doesn't it?" Dora observed as a passing muggle stared at their somewhat desperate embrace with a frown, and as he stood, feeling the dread seeping over him like a icy bucket of water, Remus agreed:

"Like nothing else."

Collecting Carrie's parents and leading the mindlessly chattering pair out of the house and into the street gave the two Order members focus. Remus tried not to listen to Mrs. Winters' babbling complaints about being left alone in the house with her complete and utter stranger of a husband. He and Dora took a muggle each firmly by the arm and as soon as they were satisfied that they were not being watched they disapparated with a pop.

And then there they were. Standing outside the entrance to St. Mungo's Hospital.

One hand still gripping firmly onto Mr. Winters arm, Remus reached into the deep inside pocket of his robes and drew out his pocket watch. He observed the time, 11:55, and suggested to the witch beside him:

"Shall we?"

They both reached to draw their hoods up, shrouding their faces in darkness and then, still gripping hold of a muggle each, they strode up to the mannequin behind the glass at the front of the false exterior, hand in hand.

"Wotcher," Dora whispered, breath smearing the glass as she leaned towards the mannequin. "We're here to see Griselda Gushweed...and to give the Ministry of Magic the finger whilst we're at it."

And with that, they stepped through the glass.

They paid very little attention to their surroundings as they made their way across the reception area, past the lines of chairs where a number of people were waiting with their various ailments and disfigurements to be seen by the hospital's healers. They arrived at the welcome desk just in time for a frail looking wizard whose face was covered in purple spots to finish with his inquiry, and as he shuffled off towards the lift, the two Order and their charges stepped up to the desk.

"Mrs. Gushweed?"

Griselda Gushweed looked up from the papers that she was straightening to see the two hooded figures stood before. She reached to pick up a pair of spectacles from the desk, pushing them up her nose as if she might see through the shadows upon their faces.

"Yes...can I help you?" the dumpy witch asked, and Remus felt slightly guilty at that moment because really she looked somewhat intimidated.

"We hope so." Dora said amiably, grip upon Mrs. Winters' arm tightening when the muggle made a move to wander off towards the lifts. "This is Christine Winters and her husband Michael. I'm afraid they've both been Obliviated."

"Oh dear!" Gushweed exclaimed, hastily reaching to snatch up a fresh paper form from the little tray beside her, eyes diverted from the hooded pair. "Let's see what we can do for them, then! Do they have the appropriate identification?"

"No, sadly not." Remus told her, and he felt Dora's grip upon his hand tighten.

"Not to worry," Gushweed said as she reached for her quill pen. "It's bound to happen, what with cases like this! If one of you could vouch for them both, I can write you down on the file and we'll be happy to admit them. Do you have any Ministry approved identification on you at all?"

As the witch looked up at them both expectantly, beneath their hoods Remus and Dora exchanged a glance.

Well, Remus thought to himself as Dora let go of Mrs. Winters arm and reached into her pocket to extract her purse, here goes nothing...

And with that, Dora pulled out her Auror ID badge out of her purse and slapped it down upon the desk in front of the woman.

Gushweed looked down at it.

There was a stunned pause. Then the witch gave a small squeak of a chuckle.

"Is...is this...is this some sort of...test?" she asked, pink cheeks fast draining of colour as her gaze flickered between the cloaked Order members and the badge upon the desk before her. "Is this...the Ministry ch...checking up on me? Listen...I...I...know what was in the Prophet but I...I wouldn't...I've not broken the rules since my hearing..." she trailed off into silence as the two strangers exchanged another brief glance before reaching to draw back their hoods...

The quill pen in Gushweed's hand began to tremble.

"Oh Merlin..." the witch breathed as she stared up at the pair, eyes growing wide in horror. "You're...with _them_."

She seemed to be sliding sideways along the desk ever so slightly and Dora hastily reached to snatch the badge back, the sudden movement making the witch jump.

"Before you hit that panic button, Mrs. Gushweed." Remus said, causing her to stop dead in her tracks, expression contorting in agitation that he seemed to know exactly what she was up to. "I wonder if we might have a brief talk with you. We won't take up much of your time..."

"No, no...I...I can't talk to you...not you people...they'll...they'll sack me..."

"...and then, by all means, hit the button, summon the Dousers on us. I imagine they'll be very pleased with you for catching us red handed."

"We understand this is difficult for you." Dora went on, as Gushweed glanced nervously around them to see who was watching. "We know you'll press the button eventually, you've got your job to protect...house to run, family to feed, grandchildren to spoil...we understand, we won't blame you."

"But if you could just listen to us, just for a minute, we'd be eternally grateful."

There was a long pause, and Remus half expected the petrified woman to make a lunge for wherever it was that the panic button was concealed, but quite slowly she leant back in her chair, as if making herself comfortable. She cleared her throat a little nervously as she gestured to Carrie's parents with a inclination of the head.

"They're muggles, aren't they?" she half-whispered, and Dora merely said:

"Mm."

"Oh Merlin..." the welcome witch mumbled, reaching to pull the glasses from her face and run a wary hand across her eyes.

"You've been working at this hospital for almost fifty years now, haven't you Mrs. Gushweed?" Remus inquired conversationally, leaning forward to lean upon the desk.

"Why yes...a...almost exactly that..." Gushweed agreed, fingers fiddling nervously with her glasses.

"I was here on your first day." Remus reminded her. "You offered me a lollipop on my way out."

Despite her nerves, Gustweed's lips twitched towards a smile.

"Yes I did, didn't I? You're the werewolf boy. The one who wouldn't stop screaming."

"That's me."

"I...I came and watched you...every year in the Phoenix Day Parade, when I realised who you were. I...I used to point you out to my grandchildren when you passed."

"That lollipop lasted me over a week."

Gushweed managed another twitch towards a smile, before she sighed again and mumbled:

"Oh Merlin..."

"You know how the hospital is supposed to run." Remus told her as Mr. Winters reached forward to examine a potful of paper clips with an expression of extreme intrigue. "You know it's not about waiting times and figures. It's about handing out lollipops to make little boys smile and giving help to anybody who comes and asks for it."

"The Dousers won't notice them." Dora put in helpfully. "They'll be much too interested in arresting us."

Gushweed eyed them in consideration for a long moment before she leaned over to her left to hold down a small green button beside what looked to be a magically modified microphone.

"Allen Jones to reception, please. That's Allen Jones to reception immediately, thank you." she murmured into the little silver contraption, a note of resignation in her voice. Then she leant back in her chair again and inquired: "Have you met Hestia's uncle?" When Remus and Dora both shook their heads, she looked rather smug to inform them: "Well Hestia is his favorite niece, always has been. I'm sure he'll be more than willing to stick his neck out for you."

And then she managed a proper smile.

Almost immediately a tiny, elderly man dressed in lime green healers robes with a shock of curly white hair appeared out of the double doors behind the desk, and at the sight of two of the Ministry's Most Wanted stood in front of the desk, he came to an abrupt halt.

"Allen, would you take Mr. and Mrs. Winters here up to Spell Damage?" Gushweed asked him as she reached to scribble something upon the form in front of her. "I'll send the paperwork up as soon as I'm done here."

Hestia's uncle recovered from his surprise remarkably quickly, and with only the briefest of glances in Remus and Dora's direction, he strode around the desk and took hold of a muggle arm in each hand, before leading them off towards the lift.

And with that, Griselda Gushwood leaned across her desk towards the two Order members, eyes twinkling as she declared:

"Long live the Order of the Phoenix!"

Then she slapped her hand down upon the panic button.

Remus and Dora had barely spun around and snatched their wands from their pockets at the sound of alarm bells ringing, when there came a series of loud cracks and the navy-robed Dousers began to appear out of thin air...

One...two, three...five...ten...

Crack, crack, crack...

Remus was losing count. His grip upon Dora's hand tightened as he heard movement behind them and he barely heard the shouts of surprise and the commotion going on in the seating area as a voice bellowed:

"SURRENDER YOUR WANDS IMMEDIATELY!"

Remus and Dora took a moment to take a proper long look at the sudden horde of Dousers who were now surrounding them in a tight circle, their wands all trained keenly upon the couple's chests, before they both slowly stooped to place their wands upon the floor. They straightened up, their entwined fingers lingering for a brief moment before they prised them apart...

The two Lupins raised their hands in surrender.

They waited to see wands being lowered in response, waited for the obligatory parchment and the reading of charges, the standard instructions of _please step this way and come quietly_...

But the Dousers did no such thing.

And as he stood, hands still in the air as over a dozen Dousers pointed their wands at both he and his wife, Remus Lupin began to realise that perhaps the rules had changed even more than he had first realised.

Apparently his wife was beginning to realise the same thing.

"Sweetheart," he heard her whisper from just beside him as he felt his heart begin to race in panic. "That thing I was going to say to you...?"

"Yes?" he managed to breath, not daring to glance sideways at her.

"It was: _oh bugger!_" came the simple response.


	12. Into The Lions' Den

_Note: It has been a long while since I read OOTP and the Battle of the Department of Mysteries. I have based this chapter around a map by John Kearns I found on the Harry Potter Lexicon._

_This chapter is dedicated to my good friend Sam (__**Messer-Moony-sezs-awhoo**__. One of the best pen names I've ever come across, by the way!_)_, who is always wonderfully enthusiastic about anything I write, she hasn't even given up on the two 'fics that I am currently being forced to put on hold owing to a lack of plot bunnies! (You have more faith in my imagination than me, that much is clear!)Thank you for the encouraging messages and helping me to throw ideas back and forward – I'm sure that you'll dig me out of the latest hole that I have gotten myself in to!_

_I would just like to apologize for not updating as quickly as usual. Writers' block is an evil, evil thing...writing a random one-shot hasn't really helped apparently, but hopefully you will all forgive me...until you read the last lines of this chapter, by which time you will probably refuse to forgive me anything for as long as I keep on writing... _

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor am I making any profit from this piece of writing._

**12: Into the Lions' Den**

"Are you nervous?"

As she stood before the fireplace, a fistful of floo powder held determinedly in one hand, Carrie Winters glanced sideways at the broad shouldered figure of Titus Goyle beside her with a weak smile.

"Petrified." she admitted.

Titus Goyle smiled in a very Lupin-esque fashion and gave her hand a squeeze.

"Me too."

"You don't look it."

"It's difficult with a face as mean as this."

Carrie sniggered, and promptly wondered how on earth she could do such a thing at a time such as this.

Because Carrie Winters, seventeen year old muggle and self-confessed coward, was about to walk into the lions' den. She and Teddy, disconcertingly disguised as Ministry Douser Titus Goyle, were about to floo to the Ministry of Magic and _have a poke around_, as Ron had put it a few minutes earlier.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Teddy asked for what might possibly have been the hundredth time, indeed Carrie had lost count, and the muggle kept her gaze determinedly upon the fireplace in front of them.

"Shut up, Ted." she muttered, oblivious to his deep frown at the instruction, and she sucked in a deep, calming breath.

"I'm just saying...because you know, if you don't want to..."

"I mean it, Ted, be quiet! You're going to make me lose my nerve." Carrie frowned thoughtfully before managing a strained smile. "Not that it matters...I suppose I'm supposed to be a terrified wreck, aren't I, if you've "caught" me? In fact it's probably a good thing I'm afraid because I'm a rubbish actress."

Teddy merely stared rather worriedly at the side of her head. Carrie wished he would make pointless conversation back.

Because that was no doubt what Remus and Dora had done. They'd stood casually in the kitchen whilst Ron outlined The Plan, occasionally bothering to listen in between silently squabbling over the bottle and taking the odd swig of Fire Whiskey, sniggering at themselves because they knew full well it was too early for such silliness. Once the meeting had finished the two of them had disappeared up the stairs and down the hallway, still chatting as they slipped the cloaks around their shoulders. Then they had wandered outside, hand in hand, and had a joke or two along the way.

To the casual onlooker they might have been off to the Three Broomsticks for a drink or out for an early afternoon stroll.

Not off to provoke fifteen Dousers into sending them straight to Azkaban.

Carrie's initial misery at having missed them had quickly been joined by a new series of feelings that had left her staring blankly at the spot that she had last seen them standing for many long minutes.

Awe.

Admiration.

Respect.

And most importantly a strong sense of determination to follow their example.

Which was why, when the minute hand upon the battered old clock upon the kitchen wall struck twelve, Carrie Winters was quick to take a bold step forward into the fireplace, and before she could give herself time to think twice, she threw the floo powder into the grate, Teddy's hand gripping her firmly by the elbow as the wizard announced clearly:

"The Ministry of Magic!"

As they stepped out into the vast, marble floored chamber that was the Ministry's Atrium, Teddy's grip upon Carrie's elbow tightened and as she attempted to get a good look around the grand room the muggle found herself being dragged forward into the crowds of people hurrying this way and that. Teddy barged his way past a couple of wizards who were huddled together examining some sheets of parchment and Carrie had to hurry to keep up at him.

"So...you know where to go...right?" she mumbled to him as they strode along, and Teddy muttered:

"Yes...and no."

"Yes and no? What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well...I know where the Department of Mysteries is, Ron explained how to get there, but we just don't know where Douser Headquarters is..."

"You want to go to Douser Headquarters?"

"Maybe...depends what we find in the Department of..."

"Titus! There you are!"

Teddy stopped dead in his tracks, and Carrie failed to suppress a small gasp as she too skidded to a halt at the sound of the voice.

The speaker was a tall yet stooped man in his twenties, a shock of pale blonde hair upon his head as he shuffled through the crowd towards them, leaning heavily upon a walking stick. He grunted a greeting to a passing wizard dressed in Douser robes who stopped and reached to pat him upon the arm.

"Afternoon." Carrie heard him say, and the other wizard announced:

"Good to see you on your feet again, Ambrose!"

Ambrose Kraft grinned crookedly.

"No chance you'll say the same about Lupin next time I get hold of him...you wait, I'll cripple the bastard, make him wish he never crossed us, ain't that right, Titus? Ha!"

"Ha..." Teddy muttered as the two Dousers both let out shouts of laughter, causing a passing witch dressed in scarlet Auror robes to shoot them a disapproving glance.

"Alright there, Wickes?" Kraft called after her with a smirk. "Fancy that cup of coffee yet, d'you?"

"Piss off, Kraft." the Auror snapped, pausing so that she could offer him a disgusted scowl.

"Feisty, this one." Kraft remarked, offering her a raised eyebrow, and the other Douser sniggered.

"Nice walking stick, Grandpa." Wickes said, smirking right back at him. "I heard Tonks' husband's responsible for that. Smashed you through a doorway and off a balcony like a rag doll. If I were Minister, I'd give him another Order of Merlin! The man's a legend..."

"Watch yourself, Sweetheart." Kraft growled, face contorting furiously. "Supporting the Order of the Phoenix...tut, tut, I hope you aren't too fond of that job of yours..."

"Don't you worry your pretty head about it, Kraft." Wickes said with a defiant toss of the head, reaching to tuck a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "I'm not supporting the Order of the Phoenix. I'm just not supporting you. I'll get my own coffee, thanks."

As the Auror turned and strode off in the direction of the nearest fireplace, Kraft scowled at her retreating back.

"Bitch." he muttered irritably, and his equally obnoxious companion laughed again as he asked rather too loudly:

"Still want to shag her?"

"Merlin, yes."

Wickes reached back with one hand to offer them the finger.

Kraft stared after her for a long moment, Carrie had the distinct impression that he was eying her up, before he turned to look at the muggle, suddenly grinning.

"Got one, did you Titus?" he asked, his gaze upon Carrie unnervingly keen. "And the Order think they've got us good today, too! They've emptied the bloody office, you know, it's only me, Cain here and old Creeper downstairs. Well they're not as bloody clever as they think they are, eh? We got one all the same!" He shot Teddy an approving look before turning to lead the way towards the lift, Cain at his side. "Quick march then, muggle! We'll get you processed before we go for lunch."

As Carrie felt Teddy give her a convincingly firm shove forwards, she tried her very best to swallow the lump in her throat.

Processed? She didn't like the sound of that. It made her think of machinery and conveyer belts and factories, so cold and mechanical that it made her shiver. She kept her gaze firmly upon her shoes, willing herself to stay calm, don't panic...

Keep your nerve, Caroline. Picture, if you must, those brave souls of yours, those who marched themselves off to ruin with nothing but smiles and laughter...

Copy them. Ask yourself: What would they do?

Carrie drew in a deep, steadying breath as she was ushered into the lift, and as the doors clicked shut behind them, she allowed her eyes to drift closed, listening to the hum of the lift as it descended and recalling with all her might the Lupins and their smiles, their ease and their calm...

Her heart was racing, pounding in her chest and yet she concentrated hard on the events of the Phoenix Day Parade and subsequent dramas...

_"Your heart's racing."_

_"Adrenaline. They took me by surprise..."_

Remus was forever calm in a crisis. He had the stunning ability to smile amicably, face and posture shrouding his apparently pounding heartbeat as if it were not there at all. When she had been younger, Carrie had always thought him reassuring to be around in times of trouble, though the older she got the more she strongly suspected that whoever happened to be on the receiving end of the mild manners and casual smile would in actual fact find them oddly intimidating. Anybody who could dare to be so confident was no doubt also the sort of person that one might begin to regret pointing a wand at in anger...

"_Well we're in for it now."_

"_Yes. We really are."_

"_Excellent. I do like a bit of excitement, every now and again..." _

Dora's version of confidence was a good deal more aggressive than her husband's. She was blunt, precise and frighteningly efficient. She had the unnerving ability to become emotionally detached and bordering on _keen_. It had, Carrie strongly suspected, a whole lot to do with the witch having been with the Aurors for over two decades. That and having spent a good few years under the watchful and highly eccentric magical eye of Alastor Mad-Eye Moody.

Copy them. Be calm. Be stoic. Be strong...

The doors clicked open and a voice announced that they had arrived at Level Three: The Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes. Carrie found herself being ushered down a long, brightly lit corridor until they reached a set of double doors to their left. A plaque upon the door informed the muggle that they were about to enter the Muggle Liason Office, otherwise known as Douser Headquarters. Carrie wondered what the office's original employees had thought of their new and brutal counterparts, or indeed if any decent individuals were left.

The lions' den was, at first glance, surprisingly normal as offices went. There were desks, chairs, countless filing cabinets and a drinks machine in one corner. Indeed, it looked rather like the office that Carrie's father had worked in, she had seen it one day when she had gone with her mother to drop of some paperwork that he had left at home...

It was then that she saw the tall backed wooden chairs that were lined up along one wall, thick chains upon the floor around them...

Carrie eyed the seats apprehensively, the Dousers' conversation with Teddy lost on her as she stared. She wondered how many muggles had been chain up, lined up ready to be obliviated...

It made her shudder.

Be calm. Be stoic. Be strong.

"Leave her here, Titus." Kraft suggested with a dismissive wave of the hand. "We can let Creeper deal with her, that way we can go and have a few words with Millagen about the raid tomorrow. Take a seat, muggle! You never know, you might be lucky, Creeper might pick you!"

As Teddy marched her over towards the nearest chained chair, Carrie focused furiously on taking a deep breath, and once deposited in the chair she dared look over at Kraft to ask:

"Pick me for what?"

"Your Final Task, of course!" Kraft informed her with a sneer as Teddy drew his wand and set about binding the chains tightly around her.

"What kind of task?" Carrie asked, gritted her teeth and picturing with all her might the calm, mildly interested expression that so easily adorned Remus' face.

Kraft appeared to be amused by her curiosity.

"You'll have to wait and see, won't you?" he said, grinning crookedly. "But I daresay Creeper might pick you. You're the Winters girl aren't you? The one the Lupins and the rest of the Order are so fond of? Yes...he'll pick you, there's no doubt! Come, Titus, let's get this talk with Millagen over with...bloody moron..."

Carrie stared up at Titus Goyle as he leant forward, apparently securing the chains as the other two Dousers turned and headed back through the doors.

The chains felt suddenly loose...

"Run, Sweetheart." Teddy's voice whispered in her ear, and with that Titus Goyle drew away from her and strode off after the others. Carrie watched them go, heart pounding as the door swung shut behind them.

As soon as the door was closed, Carrie let out a panicked breath, only to suck in another.

Be calm. Be stoic. Be strong.

Carrie gave her arms a firm pull against the chains and they came loose with ease. She hastily untangled herself from the rest of the hefty bindings and scrambled to her feet. Gaze darting around the office searchingly, she gave herself a little shake and headed for the door. Slowly, she counted to ten to give Teddy and the Dousers plenty of time to reach the lift. The waiting helped to calm her, go give her focus...

Be calm. Be stoic. Be strong.

She reached to pull the door open a fraction, peering out into the corridor to check that the coast was clear, only to spot a tall, thin witch dressed in bottle green robes striding purposefully along the corridor. The muggle hastily ducked back inside the room, waiting for the sound of the woman's high heels clicking upon the highly polished floor to fade. Another glance around the door confirmed that the woman had disappeared into another office, and with the corridor now entirely empty, Carrie made a run for the lift. Skidding to a halt before it, she reached to jab urgently at the button, doing her very best not to imagine who she might be confronted with when the doors opened...

It would be nobody. It would be empty. Don't panic, stay positive...

The doors finally slid open a long minute later and Carrie was relieved that her optimistic hopes had turned out to be true. She sprung across the threshold and into the empty lift, turning to eye the buttons upon the wall searchingly. Her finger came to hover over the one labeled Atrium...

Run, Sweetheart...

Carrie pursed her lips together, frowning deeply as she stared at a second button labeled The Department of Mysteries...

Be calm. Be stoic. Be strong.

"Don't listen to Ted." the muggle told herself, one hand balling into a determined fist. "Don't run away, don't be a coward. Copy Remus and Dora. Be calm, be stoic, be strong..."

And with that she reached to press the button for the Department of Mysteries.

Almost as soon as the doors had clicked shut behind her, Carrie felt a sudden surge of doubt, the lift suddenly seemed very claustrophobic and she could feel beads of sweat gathering upon her brow. And yet, when the doors opened a couple of minutes later, a voice announcing that she had arrived at the Department of Mysteries, Carrie took a bold couple of steps forward and stepped out of the lift.

Carrie found herself standing in a long, dark corridor, the floor, walls and low ceiling all made of highly polished black marble. As she stared around her, walking slowly forward and eying the empty iron torch-holders that lined the walls, Carrie wondered what on earth she was supposed to be looking for. Something out of the ordinary, she supposed, but then again from the few things that she had been told about the Department of Mysteries over the years, nothing contained within its walls could be described as normal in any shape or form, not even by witches and wizards.

A sudden whooshing sound made her jump, and she spun around just in time to see the empty torch holder upon the wall that she had just passed ignite, bright blue flames casting a cool light upon the corridor. For a long moment, Carrie simply stood, staring at the dancing fire, sucking in a calming breath to slow the pounding of her heart.

"Hurry up." she whispered to herself sternly, turning and setting off down the corridor again, her pace much more brisk. "Before somebody catches you down here!"

At the end of the corridor, Carrie found herself confronted with a single door, and she failed to allow herself to hesitate as she reached to push it open and step into the next room.

The circular room. The one with the countless doors, Carrie recalled as the door swung shut behind her. She had heard about it many years previously, the first ever time that she had stayed the night at the Lupins' house. The Potters and the Weasleys had come round for dinner and the adults had spent the evening recalling the Wizarding Wars...

Including the Battle of the Department of Mysteries.

There had been a room, Carrie recalled, a circular room with door after door...rotating...

The wall and the doors fitted into it suddenly began to move, spinning, and Carrie hurriedly squeezed her eyes shut with a panicked gasp, the movement made her feel nauseous. As she heard the creaking of marble coming to a halt, the muggle dared to open her eyes...

"Oh Merlin..." she breathed.

She was lost. Already! She was sure of it, how was she supposed to know which door she had come through? Or which door to go through next...

Harry and Dumbledore's Army had marked the doors using magic, she recalled, but that wouldn't be much help to a muggle...

Carrie took a few uncertain steps forward into the middle of the room, gazing despairingly around her, and she was just reminding herself to remain calm when she heard the sound of one of the door behind her being opened...

Without so much as a glance behind her, the muggle made a beeline for the door straight ahead of her, reaching to fling it open and stumbling into the corridor beyond, turning to push the door shut behind her. She paused to catch her breath, leaning back against the door as she hoped with all her might that whoever had been entering the circular room had not caught sight of her...

Where in Merlin's name was she now?

She was stood at the end of a long, narrow room, a number of desks ran along one wall, above which was hung an enormous egg timer, pearly white sand seeping steadily from the top chamber down into the bottom. To her right Carrie caught sight of a number of doors leading off the room, and without much thought the muggle made for the first door. Dropping into a crouch, she made to peer through the keyhole.

It was a small, cramped office with little inside except a desk, a large leather chair and a pot plant that looked decidedly wilted and a little on the yellow side...

Concluding that there was nothing interesting to be seen, Carrie moved on to the next door, then the next...

They were all offices, she discovered, all empty and identical. They had to be where the Unspeakables were based, she supposed as she sidled up to a sixth door to peer through the keyhole. This was another office, just the same as all the others, save for the fact that a large black box that looked almost as though it was made of the same marble as the walls had been set down upon the desk.

Carrie tested the door handle. The office had been left unlocked. Glancing around to check that she had not been followed, she slipped inside the office, closing the door firmly behind her. She turned to eye the box upon the desk and quite suddenly the eerie silence of the room was disturbed by a faraway whisper...

_Caroline..._

At the sound of the voice, Carrie jumped, leaning back against the door, staring at the box.

_Come closer, Caroline..._

Carrie gritted her teeth against a shudder. The whispering felt horribly familiar, she almost felt as though she was back in her bed at home, fifteen years old, the cruel murmurings of Mildred Marchbrook and her mirror plaguing her every waking moment and her dreams...

"Go away!" the muggle demanded, positively glaring at the box, hands balling into fists. She wondered what a Horcrux was doing in the Department of Mysteries...

...if it was a Horcrux...

_It's not a Horcrux, Carrie love. _

Carrie jumped again.

"Dora...?" she breathed, immediately straightening up and taking a small step forward. "Is...is that you?"

_She's right, Carrie dear. It's not...one of those._

Carrie felt her heart give an enormous leap in her stomach. It hadn't been...it couldn't be...

"Mum...?"

_Come closer, Carrie love..._

_That's it Caroline, come closer..._

Carrie slowly crept forwards and as she approached the box the whisperings of encouragement grew louder and louder.

_Open the box, Caroline..._

_Open it, Carrie love..._

_Open the box..._

_Reach forward and open it..._

_Help us, Caroline..._

_Help..._

At the sudden plea, Carrie felt her heart give another jolt and she hastily reached to grasp hold of the lid of the box and with a deep breath she pushed it open...

A blinding flash of white light exploded from within and Carrie stumbled backwards in alarm, reaching to clamp her hands over her eyes. Her foot got caught upon something and she felt herself falling to the ground, eyes screwed shut as she reached to fling her hands out to break her fall. When she finally managed to open her eyes, the floor before her had seeming sunk downwards, down and down into a bottomless abyss, nothing but darkness below, and Carrie was about to leap back from the edge in shock when she felt something brush against her fingertips...

_Help us, Carrie..._

_Don't let us fall..._

Hands, two pairs of them, clawing desperately at the edge of the abyss, clinging on with all their might to stop themselves from falling...

Eyes wide in panic, Carrie dared to lean forward to look down into the gaping hole...

And Dora and her mother stared back up at her, their eyes wide in terror as they struggled to grip onto the edge...

They were going to fall!

"Give me your hands!" Carrie shrieked desperately, leaning forward as far as she dared and reaching to grasp hold of her mother by the wrist. "I've...I've got you Mum, I...I've got you..."

_Don't let go, Carrie!_ her mother pleaded, face pale in terror. _Please don't let go of me..._

"I've got you Mum! I won't let go, I promise..." Carrie's gaze darted sideways to where Dora hung, face contorted with the effort of holding on. "Dora...give me your hand! Quickly!"

_You can't hold both of us, Carrie love_, the witch said, fingers slowly beginning to slip. _You can't have us both..._

"No!" Carrie cried, reaching with her free hand to grasp hold of witch, clinging to the pair of them with all her might. "No, I won't let you go! I won't let either of you go!"

But almost immediately the muggle could feel her grip wavering, could feel herself being pulled further and further forward. She gritted her teeth and screwed her eyes shut in effort, desperate not to let go...

_You'll have to let one of us go, Caroline_, her mother's voice informer her gently. _Just let go..._

"No! I'll lose you! I don't want to lose you, not either of you..."

_Let go, Carrie love..._

Carrie was falling...

_Let one of us fall..._

Falling...

_Let one of us go..._

_Choose..._

THUD!

Carrie felt her forehead collide with the solid floor in front of her as she toppled over, and as pain blossomed upon her forehead she ignored the rush of blood to her head to scrambled upright, eyes wide in panic...

She stared at the solid floor where just seconds previously there had been a bottomless abyss...

Her mother and Dora were nowhere to be seen. Upon the table, the box had slammed itself shut.

Heart pounding in her chest, breathing ragged and gasping, Carrie stumbled to her feet and back towards the door, reaching to clamp a hand to her throbbing forehead. Tears clouded her vision as she failed to suppress a sob of horror, her hand trembling...

What in Merlin's name had just happened? She'd sworn she had heard Dora's voice, even heard her mother, it had been the most vivid of nightmares, so real...

And they had been falling, down into darkness and...

"Stop!" Carrie screwed her eyes shut and drew in a deep breath, giving herself a firm shake.

There were all sorts of strange and dangerous things inside the Department of Mysteries, she recalled Ron warning before she and Teddy had left Grimmauld Place. It was important to keep your wits about you in a place like this...

Stay calm. Stay stoic. Stay strong.

Carrie dare one last glance at the box upon the desk. The room was silent once again. With one last shudder, she reached to pull the door back open and stepped back out into the Time Room. A hurried inspection of the other rooms running along the right hand side of the room confirmed that they too were offices, and then she found herself faced with one last door, larger, grander than the rest. Glad to put as many doors between herself and the nightmarish box back in one of the offices, Carrie reached to push the door open, slipping into the room beyond.

It was vast, the ceiling so high that she could not make it out, row after row of shelves disappearing up into the darkness, each one housing row after row of glass orbs. This, the muggle assumed, was the Hall of Prophecies. It, like the room before it, was eerily quiet and as she slowly walked forward towards the nearest line of shelves, her footsteps echoing off the dark walls, Carrie found herself musing where, if they were not in their offices, the Ministry's Unspeakables were.

Wherever they are, she thought as she came to a stop, gazing at the mysterious orbs before her, they could stay there. Merlin knew what might happen if she were to get caught down here...

She reached forward with a curious but tentative hand to press a cool finger against one of the glass orbs. It felt icy cold against her skin, and Carrie was just leaning forward to squint at the softly glowing light inside the glass when she heard a voice amongst the shelves further down the room murmur:

"Lumos!"

Carrie jumped backwards with a gasp as she saw light flood an aisle some five or so rows ahead of her...

She felt her back collide with the shelves behind her and she flinched in anticipation of countless orbs sliding off the shelves and shattering upon the floor...

The noise was even louder than the muggle had anticipated and she had just enough time to spy the wandlight shifting as the stranger spun around towards the source of the noise, before the voice inside her head demanded:

_Run!_

As she turned on her heel and fled back down the aisle, turning to run up the side of the room away from whoever it was, Carrie heard a man's voice call:

"Hello? Lizzie, is that you?"

Carrie ran, flinching as her heavy footfalls echoed around the room and when she spotted a door to her left she made straight for it, reaching to push it open and slip into yet another room.

And so it was that Carrie Winters found herself staring around the Death Chamber, gaze coming to rest upon the raised platform in the center, upon which stood the Veil.

The sight of it made the muggle shudder.

It was...smaller and far more unassuming than she had ever imagined, were it not for the raised platform upon which it was set, she might have overlooked it entirely...and yet, that made it more intimidating by far.

She wouldn't go near it. Nowhere near, definitely not. She didn't even want to look at it...

Carrie edged her way along the room, one hand resting reassuringly against the cool marble wall. She passed several doors, each time debating whether or not to go through them. By the time she reached the final door it had occurred to her that she had no logical way of deciding which one to choose.

So the last one would do nicely.

She found herself back in the circular room with the countless doors, and was debating whether or not this was a relief or not when the door opposite her was abruptly pulled open, and a short, squat female figure dressed in too-long Auror robes stumbled into the room.

Carrie froze, a gasp of alarm catching in her throat.

The woman, whoever she was, looked up from a despairing inspection of her hand, which Carrie saw with horror was slashed and bloody, before her pale eyes shot up to stare at the girl stood before her.

She wasn't, Carrie decided as she took in the long, greasy blonde hair and flushed pink cheeks, an Auror. Indeed, she looked about as likely to be an Auror as the escaped muggle Carrie and Teddy had run into in the alleyway had done.

Indeed, Carrie was sure that the two were probably connected.

"Hello..." Carrie began uncertainly, and at the sound of the voice the woman gave a startled jump. "My name is Carrie," she said, taking a step forward and attempting to smile kindly, despite her nerves. "Carrie Winters...what's your name?"

The woman simply stared, cradling her bloodied hand against her chest.

"Goodness," Carrie breathed, frowning deeply. "Whatever did you do to your hand?"

Again, the woman said nothing, and Carrie tried:

"Don't be frightened...I'm one too. A muggle, I mean. You are a muggle, aren't you? They...they sent you down here, for some reason..."

The woman took a small, stumbled step forward, swaying ever so slightly as she stared at Carrie with eyes as wide as snitches.

"You're Carrie." she observed, voice not more than a strained whisper. "You're Carrie, you...you're Remus and Tonks' girl."

At mention of Remus and Tonks, Carrie's eyes widened too.

"You...you know about Remus and Dora?" she said, heart racing. "How...how do you know about Remus and Dora? How...who told you about us?" She took a few eager steps forward, which seemed to startle the muggle woman somewhat. Despite this, Carrie reached to lay a pleading hand upon the woman's arm. "Who told you about the Lupins?" she asked. "What did they tell you?"

"They said they hoped the Ministry didn't get Carrie." the woman recalled vaguely. "They said they mustn't get Carrie, they mustn't get Remus and Tonks' girl. It'd break Remus and Tonks' hearts."

"Who? Who said that?" Carrie asked urgently, her grip upon the woman's arm tightening, and the woman cast a meaningful look over her shoulder at the door she had gone through.

"They did." she whispered. "When I did my Final Task."

"Yes, but who are they?" Carrie cried, teeth clenched in frustration, but the woman merely sighed sadly and whispered:

"It's done." And with that, she made to step free of Carrie's grasp, a bag upon her shoulder rattling as she moved.

"What's in your bag?" Carrie asked, looking down to peer inside as the woman passed, but she caught sight of nothing beside a couple of empty plastic water bottles before the woman wandered off towards a different door. With a heavy sigh of frustration, Carrie stared after her, only to turn to look at the door from which the strange woman and entered the room. Carrie strode forward and reached for the door handle, only to pause at the sight of a dark red, rust-like stain upon the metal. Hesitating a little, she reached to open the door...

It was locked.

Carrie hastily spun around to face the woman's retreating back and made after her, calling:

"Excuse me? Excuse me, do you...do you have a key?"

The woman seemingly didn't hear her, and Carrie drew breath to call to her again, only to stop dead at the sight of a door opening...

"Aha!" the painfully familiar voice of Ambrose Kraft exclaimed as he strode into the room, flanked by two other Dousers. "There you are, muggle!"

At the sight of him, the muggle woman let out a horrified sob, collapsing in a feeble pile upon the floor at his feet. The Douser gave an irritated huff at the sight of her.

"Not you, for Merlin's sake!" he snapped, and with that he landed a hefty kick upon the woman's side, eliciting a wail of pain in protest.

Carrie flinched, and she could manage nothing but to stare helplessly as the brute reached into his pocket and drew out his wand, pointing it directly at her chest.

"I meant young Caroline, here." he announced with a sneer. "Didn't I, Sweetheart? Merlin, can you just imagine the look on Lupin's face, when I tell him I've shattered that pathetic little muggle mind of yours into oblivion? I can't bloody wait to tell him all about it!"

Carrie was pretty sure that she could easily imagine the precise look on Remus' face if Kraft were to inform him of something so horrific. And it would be nothing like the broken and pained expression that Kraft expected.

Be calm. Be stoic. Be strong.

Kraft raised his wand...

Be calm. Be stoic. Be strong.

The spell was on the tip of his tongue...

Be calm. Be...

"Wait!"

Titus Goyle sprung forward from his position stood in the doorway, causing Kraft to pause and offer him a raised eyebrow.

"Why...why should YOU get to do it?" Goyle demanded to know, as Carrie allowed herself the smallest sighs of relief. "I mean...I bloody caught her, didn't I?"

Kraft gave a light chuckle, lowering his wand.

"Alright Titus, don't get funny with me!" he muttered, reaching down to yank the sobbing heap of woman up onto her feet beside him. "I was only having a bit of fun! Besides, you didn't give a toss who did it earlier! If she hadn't have done a runner Creeper would've done it!"

"Well...I've changed my mind!" Goyle grunted, striding hurriedly forward to grab hold of Carrie by the arm. "I mean...it's the Lupins, isn't it? I'd like to be the one to do it...after what they did, after this one here got me banged up in Azkaban!"

Kraft smirked.

"Still touchy about that, are we?" he said, reaching to give the woman he had hold of a firm shove towards the nearest wall. "Fair enough, mate. I'll deal with this one, shall I?"

Carrie watched in mute horror as the woman stumbled to a halt, staring with wide, petrified eyes at the wizard before her. Kraft raised his wand, slowly, deliberately, watching the woman squirm for a long moment before declaring:

"Obliviate!"

There was a bright flash of light as the spell short forward, striking the woman directly in the face, and for a long moment she was frozen, the terror lingering on her face, before slowly the light seemed to fade from her eyes, her face sagged a little and she slid down towards the floor, still staring up at the Douser, expression suddenly blank.

Carrie could feel the colour draining from her own face as she stared in horror at the scene, and she barely heard Kraft's cheerful suggestion of:

"Shall we get back to the office, then? See what the Order have been up to...grab the vegetable for me, won't you Cain?"

Despite knowing that it was Teddy's hand upon her shoulder leading her towards the exit, Carrie felt such horror and dread seeping over her that she began to think that she would at last lose her nerve.

The short trip in the lift made her feel faint and nauseous again, and she was almost feeling glad of the prospect of being made to sit down whilst waiting for her fate. But no sooner had they piled into the office, where a couple more Dousers had seemingly returned from wherever they had been that morning, when there came a sudden whooshing noise and above their heads countless tiny lights came shooting out of nowhere, amassing against the far wall into a flat, glowing screen...

There came a loud crackling noise, like that of a loudspeaker, and suddenly the screen on light glowed brightly as a booming, triumphant voice announced to the room at large:

"We've got them! WE'VE GOT THE LUPINS!"

And Carrie watched with dread as the lights faded into different colours until a clear image became visible upon the screen.

And there were Remus and Dora, surrounded by Dousers, wandless with their hands held high in surrender...

Carrie stared, heart giving a despairing plummet as she felt Teddy's grip upon her shoulder slacken.

"They aren't lowering their wands..." she heard him breathe in panic, voice so quiet that it was lost amongst the other Dousers' sudden loud talk. "Carrie...why aren't they lowering their wands? Mum and Dad have surrendered! So why aren't they lowering their wands?"

"I...I don't know..." Carrie managed to mumble weakly, blinking her eyes rapidly against tears, and at that precise moment the Dousers upon the screen all drew back their wands, ready to strike...

And it seemed suddenly to all move in sickening slow motion as Carrie saw her fearless wonders stare hopelessly at the hostile move...

Remus turned, just as the first flashes of light exploded from the Douers' wands, and Carrie watched

in helpless silence as the werewolf flung his arms around his wife. The two Order members clung to one another, faces buried in each others' cloaks, hold so painfully desperate, so terribly resigned that Carrie couldn't stop a devastated shriek of protest from escaping her lips.

"NO!"

Spell after spell struck, jolting the pair this way and that as if they were a couple of rag dolls and before long their grip upon one another slackened...

And Carrie watched as her guardian angels crashed to the floor, bloodied, broken and bleeding.

Those in the office around her applauded the devastation, the sound ringing in her ears...

And after a long, mournful moment, she felt Teddy's hand leave her shoulder...

Teddy Lupin stared up at the shamelessly brutal and remorseless attack upon his defenseless mother and father.

And then he applauded along with the rest.


	13. Make Believe

_Note: Because we've not had nearly enough fluff in this story..._

_This chapter is dedicated to **Queen Anne's Revenge** for such an awesome quote from Star Wars regarding the previous chapter:_

"_So this is how liberty dies, with a thunderous applause." _

_I only wish I'd written it myself!_

_**I would like to hear any favorite quotes from Remus/Tonks/Teddy regarding Carrie**, from anybody who can be bothered to identify them! They can be from any of the Meet the... stories! So, let's hear them all, because **it is in actual fact relevant to this story's plot!**_

**13: Make Believe**

At the first opportunity, whilst the other Dousers were busy cracking open a tin of celebratory biscuits, Teddy grabbed hold of Carrie's arm and made a beeline for the door. They slipped out into the corridor and headed straight of the lift.

"We need to get out of here." Teddy muttered, voice strained as they stopped before the lift and he reached to slap his hand against the button upon the wall. "Before all those Dousers come back from St. Mungo's."

Carrie's mind felt much too sluggish to consider the predicament that they would find themselves in should more Dousers arrive back at the Ministry. Her mind was still back in the office, back staring in horror at the screen, Remus and Dora crumpling to the floor...

"Your dad told you...he said...if you surrender they...they won't hurt you!" she recalled despairingly, and as they heard the lift come to a halt, the doors ready to slide open, Teddy gave a sickened shrug.

"Well..." he muttered, casting a furious glance back over his shoulder towards Douser Headquarters. "Dad was wrong."

"But...but hexing somebody who's just surrendered their wand...! It's...it's cruel! It's NOT FAIR!"

"Dad also said: _Life isn't fair_." Teddy recalled as the doors slid open. "And he was right."

They stepped into the lift, and as the doors slid shut, Carrie reached to grasp hold of the wizard by the hand.

"Ted...I...I'm so sorry..."

"Don't. I...I don't want to talk about it. Let's just focus on getting out of here, getting back to Grimmauld Place..."

The lift came to a halt upon the next floor and Teddy hastily pulled his hand free from her grasp as the doors slid open and a wizard dressed in navy blue Douser's robes stepped inside...

Titus Goyle stared at Titus Goyle.

And Titus Goyle stared straight back.

The real Goyle's eyes widened in alarm as he chanced the briefest of glances at Carrie beside the doppelganger, and just as the lift doors slid shut the Douser shoved his hand into the pocket of his robes. Carrie watched in panic as he hurriedly snatched the wand out of his pocket...

And beside her, she felt Teddy do exactly the same.

As the lift gave a small jolt as it set off moving again, the two wizards stood, pointing their wands directly at each others' chests, and Carrie hastily backed off into the nearest corner, heart racing in panic.

"What the bloody hell is going on here, then?" Goyle growled, grip upon his wand so tight that he entire arm began to shake. "The Order up to mischief again, is it?"

"That would depend, Mr. Goyle." Teddy informed him calmly, offering him the smallest of smiles that looked quite unnatural on his current face. "Do you happen to have an identical twin brother?"

Goyle gave his wand a furious flick and a bright blue light streaked forward, only to be deflected with a hurried swipe of Teddy's wand. Carrie flinched as the spell struck one side of the lift with a bang, causing the floor beneath them to shudder. An explosion of spells lit up the room and Carrie forced her eyes open, eyes darting back and forth as she watched the barrage of spells shooting back and forth, and the muggle's heart began to pound relentlessly in her chest, just as heard Teddy declare:

"Rictusempra!"

The spell struck Goyle in the arm, causing him to stumble back into the lift doors, only for him to raise his wand again and screech:

"STUPEFY!"

Teddy's hurried deflection of the spell was clumsy, and the force of the collision against his hastily summon magical barrier sent him flying backwards off his feet, head colliding painfully with the wall as he slumped to the floor. Carrie barely had time to let out a small shriek of alarm when Titus Goyle had leapt forwards, reaching with one hand to grasp the muggle around the neck, slamming her up against the corner, his wand jabbing her threateningly in the cheek.

"You!" the wizard spat furiously as Carrie gasped for breath, eyes wide in panic. "Muggle!"

Carrie couldn't breathe...

She tried desperately to suck air into her lungs, her neck throbbing in protest as she was pressed further back against the wall, and she struggled to think clearly...to decide what to do...

_Teddy staggered to his feet again, only for Remus to stride across the landing, coming to a halt just before him, wand jabbing him in the neck._

_"That's not fair." Teddy pointed out irritably, only for his father to give a rather dark chuckle._

_"Life isn't fair, Ted. What are you going to do about it?"_

_"Um..."_

_"You'll have to think faster than that."_

_"I could...I could knee you in the groin?"_

_"Go on then."_

_"Seriously?"_

_"Seriously."_

Gritting her teeth in stubborn determination, Carrie jerked her knee upwards with as much force as she could muster. Goyle let out a shout of surprise, his grip upon her neck went suddenly limp as he stumbled backwards, face contorting in pain. Carrie hurriedly leaped away from him, reaching to grab hold of Teddy by the arm.

"TED!" she cried, doing her very best to yank him up onto his feet, and the young wizard reached to push himself up from the floor, stumbling in his haste to take fresh aim at the staggering Douser.

"STUPEFY!" Teddy bellowed, and with a bright flash of red light, Titus Goyle slumped to the floor, out cold.

Carrie and Teddy had barely let out sighs of almost-relief when the lift came to an abrupt halt and the doors slid open to reveal the bustling Atrium, a small crowd of wizards and witches waiting to enter the lift. As the nearest witch's eyes widened in alarm at the sight of the collapsed Douser, Teddy grabbed Carrie by the hand and hurriedly shoved his way through the doorway, ignoring the exclamations of protest and alarm.

"Close your eyes!" Teddy demanded over his shoulder to the muggle as she struggled to run after him, and Carrie just about caught sight of him raising his wand high in the air before she screwed her eyes shut.

BANG!

A couple of screams of alarm pierced the air as a blinding light flashed against her eyelids, and Carrie snapped her eyes open as Teddy dragged her past a wizard who had dropped his briefcase to the floor, hands clamped over his eyes. The muggle caught a few more glimpses of the effects of Teddy's bedazzling charm before they were free of the crowd and broke out into a sprint, headed for the nearest fireplace. Carrie flinched as a hex shot past them, missing her shoulder by inches, striking the highly polished marble wall with a bang.

"STOP THEM!" a man's voice bellowed from somewhere behind them, and as she stumbled into the fireplace after Teddy, emerald flames leaping up into life around them, Carrie let out a sigh of relief...

Only for a sudden force to slam into her back, sending her stumbling into Teddy's arms, and as they disappeared in the roar of the fire a searing pain struck the muggle, as if the skin upon her shoulder blades had been doused in scalding hot water...

They tumbled out of the fireplace and into the basement kitchen of 12 Grimmauld Place half a second later, a shout of pain escaping Carrie's lips announcing their arrival.

Carrie felt Teddy's grip upon her tighten as she slumped against him with a whimper, her face buried in the front of his suddenly too-large robes as he dropped the morph.

"Shhh..." the wizard murmured, shuffling awkwardly forwards towards the nearest chair. "It's alright, you're alright..."

As she found herself being eased down into a chair, tears blurring her eyes, Carrie heard the sound of footsteps thundering down the stairs and the kitchen door was flung open to reveal a breathless-looking George Weasley.

"Uncle George!" Teddy exclaimed, eyes wide in relief at the sight of the rather bedraggled looking wizard. "Quick...they...they got Carrie, she...her back...!"

George strode hurriedly across the room towards them, reaching to lay a hand upon Teddy's shoulder as he leant to peer over at the muggle's injury with a frown.

"Mm..." he mused, drawing back to offer the sobbing muggle a reassuring smile. "Definitely a Lupin in the making, aren't you Carrie?"

As the older wizard reached to gently elbow Teddy to the side before stooping to sling one of Carrie's arms around his shoulders, Carrie managed to stop sobbing just long enough to wonder:

"Wh...what's that supposed to mean?"

George offered her a broad grin as he pulled her up onto her feet and set about dragging her towards the basement stairs.

"It's going to scar." he explained cheerfully, as if this were something of which she ought be terribly proud, and before either Carrie or Teddy could respond he had flung the door wide open again with a slightly haphazard kick and bellowed up the stairs: "OI, MUM! WE'VE GOT ANOTHER ONE DOWN HERE!"

The drawing room upstairs appeared to have been transformed into a makeshift hospital for returning Order members. Upon the sofa lay a pale-faced Ginny, staring somewhat blankly up towards the ceiling, Ron perched upon the arm of the chair beside her, pressing a linen rag against her head. At Ron's side stood Hermione, gazing around the room, expression solemn. A soft moan drew Carrie's attention as George dragged her into the room, and she glanced sideways to spot a mound of blankets and pillows heaped in one corner, a number of Order members were clustered around the occupant of the hastily made bed and as the groan rose to a shout, the muggle heard Charlie Weasley demand:

"Come on Bill, don't be such a wimp..."

"'E eez in PAIN!" Fleur snapped, rounding on her brother-in-law with a furious scowl. "'Is arm is SHATTERED! I'd like to see you keep your mouth shut if you was 'im!"

"Stop fussing and get some more bandages for Merlin's sake!" Molly Weasley demanded, and Bill's wife shot Charlie one last look of disgust before announcing:

"Do not worry, Molly! I shall look after him!"

"Very good, dear..." Molly murmured, and with that she turned around and spotted the new arrivals, eyes wide at the sight of them. "Thank Merlin, you're back!"

"Carrie's been hexed." George informed his mother with a grin, and the relief faded a little from the elderly witch's face as she cried:

"Well sit her down then, George, quickly now!"

"She'll be alright, Mum, looks like the two of them have done us proud...here Angie, gimme a hand, won't you?"

Carrie barely noticed when George's wife Angelina appeared at her side and helping the wizard to gently ease her down into a chair. She was much too busy staring back at Teddy, whilst Molly scrutinized him from head to toe searchingly.

"Let me get a good look at you!" the Weasley matriarch instructed briskly, reaching to seize the metamorphmagus by the chin so that she could get a clearer look at his pale and drawn face. "Let me see, Teddy dear! You're quite alright, aren't you? You aren't hurt at all? Good, good...what is it? What's the matter? Is it Carrie, dear? She'll be perfectly alright in a minute, you'll see..."

But Teddy's expression grew increasingly pained and as he drew a shuddered breath, hunching his shoulders, Carrie felt her chest tighten to see tears silently begin to stream down his cheeks, slowly shaking his head.

"Goodness, Teddy dear!" Molly cried, reaching to throw her arms around him as a number of other Order members paused in their fussing over the wounded to look over at their youngest member's sudden woe. "Whatever is wrong?"

Teddy drew in a deep, sniveled breath, the sound of it making the flow of tears upon Carrie's own face grow suddenly more persistent. And quite suddenly, the shock and horror of the events back in the Dousers' office at last broke free of the metamorphmagus' stoic facade, striking him again with renewed ferocity.

"Grandma Molly..." the young wizard whimpered, the colour seemingly draining from his hair until it was a despairing shade of grey. "They...they were defenseless! They surrendered!" He paused to stifle a sob into Molly's shoulder before drawing back a little to stare at her with wide, uncomprehending eyes. "Mum and Dad gave up their wands!" he choked in agitation. "They stood there with...with their hands in the air and...and...and the Dousers...they...they didn't care! They didn't give a damn and they...they CURSED THEM! O...over and...and over again! A...and...and then...and then everybody CLAPPED! I...I...clapped...!"

Molly reached to pull him closer, the rest of his mumbling lost in her shoulder as the rest of the Order began to whisper and mutter to one another in alarm at the news, and Carrie heard Angelina beside her whisper:

"No...they wouldn't, surely not! How...how could they do such a thing?"

"Disgraceful bastards!" George muttered darkly, and over by the sofa Hermione had reached to put a hand to her mouth, expression utterly bleak.

"I can't bloody believe it!" Ron was complaining to her, one hand still pressing the cloth to Ginny's head. "I mean...I know...I know I warned them...but...but I didn't think...not if they were wandless for Merlin's sake!"

"It's the most cruel and shameful thing I've heard of in years." Ginny murmured weakly from where she lay upon the sofa. "They're monsters! Attacking defenseless people on mass...! Merlin...do...do you think Remus and Tonks are alright?"

"Not bloody likely, if you ask me." Ron muttered, only for Hermione's face to fall more than ever and he hastily reached to put an arm around her. "They'll be in a right state, there's no doubt about it, getting hexed repeatedly like that...but they won't be dead...obviously."

"Obviously?" Hermione mumbled weakly, and Ron gave a small shudder before insisting:

"Yes, obviously! I don't give a toss who the Dousers think they are, not even they can commit cold blooded murder in the middle of a crowded waiting room like that!"

"Ron's right." Charlie Weasley announced as he came to stand at the other end of the sofa by Ginny's feet. "Besides, if nothing else Remus and Tonks are more useful to the Ministry alive."

"That's true, too!" Ron agreed hopefully, and George mumbled his own agreement as Hermione reached to swipe the sleeve of her jumper across her eyes.

Meanwhile, Teddy was still babbling miserably into Molly's shoulder, his voice an octave higher than it had been at the beginning of his mumblings.

"...Dad tried...he...he tried b...but...but they were everywhere! They were s...surrounded! He tried b...but it was utterly hopeless!"

"Shhhh." Molly told him, her own expression deeply pained. "There now, dear...let's...let's sit down, shall we? Somebody...somebody get Ted here a glass of water! It's alright, dear, you come and sit down over here beside Carrie. It's going to be alright..."

"It always looks worse than it really is, Teddy mate." Ron reasoned kindly as Angelina shuffled aside to allow Teddy to sit down upon the arm of Carrie's chair. "I mean, look at George, for Merlin's sake!"

"Cut his ear clean off and he still reckons he's Merlin's Gift!" Angelina exclaimed, and George offered her an exaggerated look of mock-offense as Charlie went to fetch a glass from the kitchen.

"Wipe that look off your face, George, and get that back of Carrie's seen to!" Molly instructed, reaching into her pocket to extract a frilly white handkerchief that she pressed into Teddy's hands. George hurried off over to the the corner where Bill lay, and Carrie watched numbly as he snatched up a large cloth bag from the floor.

"You mustn't fret, Teddy dear." Molly was saying, reaching to lay a comforting hand upon Teddy's shoulder. "They'll be alright, I'm sure of it!"

Carrie turned to watch Teddy bury his face in the handkerchief with a heavy sigh, and the muggle reached to lay her hand in his lap, wincing as the searing pain flared in her back again. As George returned with the bag, rummaging around inside until he could extract a small glass vial stopped with a cork. Holding it up towards the light, squinting at the meager droplets of pale liquid within, the twin observed:

"We're going to run out, Mum. Is this the last vial left?"

"We'll manage!" Molly declared firmly, though a look of deep concern passed across her face before she reached to take the precious object from her son and bustled around the back of the chair to get a better look at Carrie's injury. "Hold still, Carrie dear." she instructed, reaching to sweep the hair over the muggle's shoulder, away from the wound. "This is going to sting a little, I'm afraid!"

Despite his misery, Teddy withdrew his face from the refuge of the handkerchief, apparently growing steadily calmer as he reached to take hold of Carrie by the hand.

"Carrie was brilliant," he told the surrounding Order members as he shot his girlfriend a weak smile, his voice had grown a little croaky from his tears. "She went down into the Department of Mysteries on her own!"

"Creepy, isn't it?" Ron commented with a grin, only for Carrie to wince at a sudden stinging sensation upon her back as Molly carefully dripped a few droplets of the pale liquid onto the wound.

"The best part," Teddy announced, suddenly amused at his recollections, "was when she kneed Titus Goyle in the balls!"

Ron instantly dissolved into laughter, clapping his hands together in amusement and over in the corner even Bill managed a weak chuckle.

"That's our girl!" George exclaimed, reaching to slap an approving hand down upon the muggle's arm. "You know, I bet there are load of people out there who would pay good money to see that! I know I would!"

Ron positively howled at this exclamation, only to pause to offer his sister a frown when Ginny merely sighed heavily.

"Come on, Ginny, it's bloody brilliant!" Ron cried, causing Hermione to elbow him sharply in the ribs.

"Maybe." Ginny mumbled as the door to the hallway opened again and Charlie returned, levitating a tray laden with glasses and a large jugful of water along in front of him. "But then again if I hadn't have tripped on those stupid steps, Goyle wouldn't have disarmed me, Mortell wouldn't have managed to half crack my skull open and they wouldn't have returned to the Ministry in time for Carrie and Ted to run into Goyle in the first place!"

"It wasn't your fault, Ginny." Charlie told his youngest sibling as the tray set itself down upon the coffee table. "We kept them busy for as long as we could manage."

"It was alright," Carrie told them, pausing to wince as more droplets of potion landed upon her back. "Teddy hit Goyle with a stunner, he was out like a light! And then, when we made a run for the floo, Ted blinded half the Atrium with a massive flash of light...he was fantastic!"

Ron gave a soft snort of amusement.

"Sounds like you've been taking lessons from your mum, Ted. Second year Auror training, week one: The Methodology of Magical Crowd Control!"

"She might've mentioned it." Teddy mumbled, and Carrie managed a snigger to see his cheeks redden a little at the praise.

"What it's actually called is: How To Do A Proper Runner From Seriously Sticky Situations." Ron recalled with a grin. "And Tonks always makes me teach it because she says it doesn't fit in with her occupational philosophy: _Why should I be the one to teach them to do a runner?_ _What do you think I am, a coward? I'm not going to run away, what makes you think the rest of you should?_ Thar's what she said to me once! Load of rubbish if you ask me, lazy sod just wanted an extra afternoon off!"

"She made you swap shifts with her ONCE!" Hermione pointed out in exasperation. "And it was the day after FULL MOON, for Merlin's sake!"

"I'm not complaining!" Ron grumbled, folding his arms firmly over his chest. "But I gave up my tickets to see the Canons' play..."

"They lost by miles and if you had gone you would have sulked for an entire week. As far as I'm concerned, somebody should have given Tonks a medal for her sense of good timing..."

As more light-hearted bickering ensued, Carrie wondered at the calm atmosphere amongst the devastation and yet again found herself feeling unnerved by it. Almost as soon as Molly had finished seeing to the muggle's wound, which still felt relatively sore but otherwise better, Carrie excused herself and went in search of quiet and solitude.

She found herself gravitating to Remus and Dora's room upstairs, slipping inside, slowly, quietly as if she might disturb something.

The bed had been made, the pillows and duvet immaculately neat save for an impression down the middle, and as she tiptoed further into the room Carrie could just about make out the outline where the witch and wizard had no doubt lay atop the duvet together having escaped their disagreement with Ron. Carrie wondered what they had talked about; whether they had been finalizing their plans for the ill-fated mission, whether they had spoken about Ron and what the rest of the Order were going to say about them going to St. Mungo's, or whether they, just like she and Teddy, had discussed whether or not they were feeling nervous.

Carrie could just imagine them lying there, Dora staring thoughtfully up at the ceiling for a while before slowly turning to look at him.

_Remus? _

_Mm?_ His eyes would have been closed, he wouldn't open them until it was strictly necessary because not even his wife could interrupt Remus' thoughts or anything else for that matter until he chose to allow her to do so.

Dora would shuffle closer to him then, lean her head against his chest just as she had done the night after the Phoenix Day parade, just as she often did when they were alone, or at least thought they were alone, and then she would ask:

_Are you nervous? _

And Remus would contemplate both the ceiling and his wife's question in an extremely thoughtful and deliberating manner that no other man on Earth could match, or perhaps even comprehend, before simply answering:

_No._

Because, naturally, Remus was never nervous. Not ever. He was, as Cleo Clancy would probably put it: _bloody fearless!_

They'd probably lain there in silence for a good few minutes before he'd consent to asking:

_Are you nervous, Dora?_

And Dora, being naturally blasé when asked such a question, would probably have laughed at him and said:

_You smug Gryffindor gits don't have a monopoly on all the bravery, you know!_

And then they'd have squabbled for a few minutes about the merits of Gryffindors verses Hufflepuffs, the jibes would grow steadily more offensive until he'd claim that Hufflepuffs were _the thick ones,_ and she'd demand he apologize or risk getting the smile hexed off his face. They'd probably been in the process of kissing and making up when he, being by far the more sensible of the two, would have noted the time.

And that would have been when they'd wandered downstairs to attend the Order meeting.

Carrie wandered further into the room, torn at her imaginings because she wasn't sure whether they made her want to laugh or cry. She gazed rather aimlessly around at the large number of trunks and boxes stuffed full of possessions hastily packed and removed from the house back in Eddington, until her eyes came to rest upon the large wardrobe set just to the left of the dusty bedroom window. The hem of a cloak had gotten caught in between the double doors and the muggle wandered over to pull one door open so that she could tuck the garment back inside. It was not until she felt the smooth velvet against her fingers that she recognized the cloak as one worn for the Phoenix Day Parade. Carrie reached to slide the cloak from it's hanger and stood examining the flaming orange silk lining for a moment, before reaching to throw it around her shoulders. Judging from the length, the hem brushing the floor at her feet, Carrie supposed that it was Dora's cloak. It was a rather heavy garment to be wearing in the summer, the muggle mused as she turned to regard herself in the long mirror in the corner, yet it looked unmistakably grand.

Carrie did a slow parade of her own up and down at the foot of the bed, before giving a little twirl, the cloak swishing dramatically around her, only to come to an abrupt halt at the sound of movement in the doorway.

"You never know," Teddy's voice called softly as he took a step into the room. "We could have our own, once this is all over."

Carrie kept her gaze upon the dressing table in front of her as she felt her cheeks tinge pink at being caught playing dress up.

"When do you suppose that will be?" she wondered as he crossed the room to stand just behind her,

"Merlin knows," he said as he reached to slip his arms around her waist, chin coming to rest upon her shoulder. "Or perhaps the Order might, after the meeting tomorrow."

"We've got a lot to tell them." Carrie recalled, vaguely proud, and the wizard agreed:

"Mm, we certainly will." He let out a heavy sigh, grip upon her slackening before he reached to grasp hold of the cloak at her shoulders. "But until then," he said, carefully pulling the cloak from her shoulders, "let's forget them. Let's forget the Order...forget this struggle of ours, forget the Dousers and the Ministry. Let's forget everything."

Carrie watched him walk over and replace the cloak carefully in the wardrobe before he came to stand in front of her, reaching to take her hands in his. He gazed at her thoughtfully for a long moment before suggesting: "Let's pretend we're back at home in Eddington, that the only thing we've got to worry about is whether or not your mum's going to mind if you stay at mine for dinner, or whether or not my mum's been stupid enough to try and bake cauldron cakes."

Carrie managed a small snigger.

"And you've bruised your forehead from falling off our swing again." Teddy went on, coaxing her lips to curve more than ever.

"Your mum can't find where she left the Bruise-Away." she told him, and he grimaced as he decided:

"Dad reckons it's in their bedroom and then they start sniggering at one another like they always do..."

"That's why we're hiding up in your room. They didn't take any notice of you when you told them they were being embarrassing and you were worried your mum was going to give you that speech about age only being a number and...whatever comes after that...I don't know because you never let her get further than that."

"Damn right I don't!" They both chuckled as he reached to trail a considering finger across the bruise upon her forehead where she had fallen after the vision back in the office at the Ministry. Leaning forward a little he murmured: "I suppose, if we can't find the Bruise-Away, I'll have to kiss it better."

Carrie gave a soft snort as she leant to rest her hands against his chest.

"Does that work, then?" she teased. "Magic kisses!"

"I'll have you know, Miss Winters, that heart-felt kisses might just do the trick!" Teddy declared, voice the model of seriousness, and with that he leant forward to press an ever-so-hesitant kiss to her forehead. As he reached to envelope her in his arms, Carrie mused that butterflies seemed to be materializing in her stomach and it occurred to her just how new this all felt. Indeed, since the change in her relationship with Teddy things really didn't seem to have changed all that much. The Order of the Phoenix had undoubtedly gotten in the way...

But here they were, she thought, smiling into the folds of his too-large navy robes, in his room back at home, no Ministry, no Order...

"They say, you know," Teddy murmured, one hand reaching to smooth her hair, "that love is the most powerful magic there is. So maybe you've got your wish after all, Carrie. Maybe if we fall in love we're all witches and wizards in the end."

She drew back just enough so that she could gaze up at him with a smile.

"Well that's too bad then." she told him. "Because you thought you fell in love with a muggle!"

"I didn't just fall in love with a muggle!" he protested incredulously. "I fell in love with _you_!"

At his positively offended expression she giggled and couldn't help but rise up upon her tiptoes so that she could kiss him.

No sooner had their lips met, Carrie felt her heart begin to race and the odd mixture of elation and panic that had a nasty habit of conspiring with the force of gravity against her threatened to take hold. She rather wished that she hadn't been quite so enthusiastic. Luckily, Teddy too seemed intent on being a little cautious as he settled his arms carefully around her waist. It was, she supposed, barely a kiss at all and they both drew back a few inches to look suitably abashed by their nerves before jointly concluding, through some form of silent communication that neither were entirely sure of, that, what with the initial panic being over with, all caution ought be thrown to the wind. Carrie wasn't quite sure how long they stood there, marvelously uninterrupted and gloriously heady, kissing. But it was long enough to have the slow, careful movements become entirely natural and flowing as if it were some sort of dance that they had practiced over and over, the steady rhythm soothing to the pounding heart in her chest.

It was, Carrie concluded, nice.

Very nice.

She felt rather as though she were dreaming, floating...

Which left her entirely unaware of one of his hands abandoning her waist until she felt the warmth of his palm against her cheek, and their rhythm was disturbed somewhat as he drew back from her ever so slightly, expression suddenly one of extreme deliberation before he leant forward again, thumb reaching to coax her mouth open ever so slightly, and she silently commanded herself not to attempt to gasp for breath.

She thought she managed it...sort of. Even if she could feel her cheeks burning what was probably a rather silly shade of pink.

And yet, Carrie Winters could help but think that she had remained remarkably calm and accident-free whilst actually snogging Teddy Lupin for the first time.

Especially given the exciting realization that the reality was even better than she had ever even imagined.

The fireworks were back in her head again and the muggle mused that this achievement coupled with all the other terrifying things that she had managed to achieve that day might finally have proved Teddy right.

Maybe she would have been a Gryffindor after all.

Which was lucky, she supposed as she reached to wrap her arms tightly around the wizard's neck, because there was only so long that the two of them could stand here in his bedroom back in Eddington, playing make-believe...

They'd have to stop pretending all too soon, and when they did Carrie dreaded to think what the world might throw at them next.


	14. Interrogation

_Note: I have raised the rating of this 'fic to an M...because I am paranoid, and because there are adult themes mentioned in this chapter._

_Any more favorite quotes as requested in the previous chapter would be great, thanks to anybody who takes the time to look back and find some!_

_Here is an extra addition to the plot, especially for Sam so she doesn't get bored..._

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter._

**14: Interrogation**

It was precisely 3:24am according to the clock upon her bedroom wall when Carrie Winters awoke for the fourth time from nightmares of flashing spells, jolting bodies, blood and agonizingly slow falls to the floor. The muggle sat bolt upright in bed with a gasp, before reaching to wipe the blurriness of sleep from her eyes. It made her wince. In the blacks of her eyelids she could see their faces, see the despair in their eyes as their hold upon one another failed, as they crashed to the floor...

She knew there and then that she couldn't possibly bear to watch the Lupins' downfall again that night. The harrowing visions would surely break her and she was running out of tears to cry.

Carrie reached to throw back the covers and got slowly to her feet, shivering at the cool floorboards under bare feet. She reached for the small jar of magical light that Hermione had left for her upon the bedside table before heading for the bedroom door and slipping out onto the landing. She wasn't sure where she was going, but found herself gravitating towards the library upstairs.

Carrie had never spent much time in the library of Grimmauld Place. It was a grim and drafty room full of dusty tomes and faded parchments, a couple of tall backed leather chairs and a writing desk. It was not the most appealing of places, the muggle supposed, but she was in the mood for exploration, distraction, and there was plenty to examine within the library's dim confines. She started on the left hand side of the room, wandering slowly along beside the tall, dark wooden bookcases, examining the ancient looking books, squinting at their spines and frowning at the number of gruesome sounding titles printed in peeling letters along the binding. After a while she turned to examine the desk set at the back of the room, and was surprised to see a modern book bound in bright red leather. It had been left open upon the desk, a quill pen and stack of parchment beside it as if somebody had been taking notes. Carrie went to drop down upon the hard wooden chair before the desk, reaching to pull the book towards her. One finger between the pages so as not to lose the page, the muggle reached to examine the book's cover:

A History of Azkaban: Justice In Wizarding Britain.

Carrie went back to the open page, finding the beginning of a chapter entitled: Post-War Azkaban and the Dismissal of the Dementers.

Part of her wanted to slam the book shut and not dare to read in case of what she might learn, and yet Carrie felt compelled to read.

At first, when learning of the replacement of the Dementers with human guards, Carrie had thought the prison didn't sound all that different from a muggle prison, and she felt reassured by this observation because she could recall debates upon the television claiming that these days prison wasn't anything like as bad as it had been in the past. But for the most part, Post-War Azkaban seemed rather dated, with prisoners being clamped in chains to walls or in small cells. Their diet appeared to consist of little more than gruel and they rarely left their cells for exercise. Whilst their mental states were greatly improved with the absence of the Dementers, physically their health was very poor and disease was common.

Carrie read on, hoping for better news, but things only seemed to grow worse.

_Despite several proposed changes to legislation, the Wizengamot has thrice denied extra funding to the prison, and a recent report has highlighted the negative impact of a lack of funding. A shortage of staff has led to the guards being necessarily harsh and brutal towards convicts in an attempt to keep order, something that human rights activists have been campaigning against for many years. Organisation within the prison has become disrupted, with some prisoners failing to receive regular meals. The absence of the Dementers and the introduction of exercise sessions in a central courtyard has also led to an alarming increase in violence amongst prisoners, with attacks upon inmates increasing by a hefty 42% in the past two years. Most concerning of all, according to the Prisoners' Advice Bureau, is the growing number of reported sexual assaults against female prisoners, which will be at the forefront of the next debate before the Wizengamot due in January of next year. Other issues thought to be debated are the current medical facilities at the prison, which though considered adequate by many, still need improving in the eyes of many. It is thought that funding will finally be increased as a result of the upcoming debate, especially after the Mead Hearing that caused outrage across the country. Since the hearing a new training course has been set up by the Magical Law Enforcement Department to increase both the competency of prison staff as well as to act as a vetting system during the employment process. Though there has been praise for this new scheme it, like Azkaban itself, is lacking in funds..._

Carrie hastily closed the book with a shudder. Clutching the small jar of light firmly in her hand, the darkness of the room seemed to deepen and she hurriedly got to her feet and shuffled out of the room. Sleep seemed even more unlikely than ever, and she found herself aimlessly climbing staircases until sh reached the top of the house. Despite the late hour, she felt desperate to hear a friendly voice and so she reached to push open the attic bedroom's door. Squinting through the darkness she hesitated only briefly before calling:

"Hestia...? It's...it's Carrie...are you awake...?"

She heard the rustling of sheets and suddenly the lamp beside the bed seemingly lit itself, casting a soft light across the bed.

"Mmm?" Hestia mumbled sleepily, and Carrie shuffled into the room, lips pursed together rather guiltily as she reached the end of the bed, eying the groggy invalid with a small frown.

"Sorry..." the muggle whispered as the witch attempted with very little success to shift herself up into a slightly more upright position. "I shouldn't have woken you up. It's just...well..." she trailed off into silence for a moment as Hestia yawned widely, only for the witch to then murmur hoarsely:

"Spit it out, Carrie. It's not like I've got to be up at the crack of dawn now, is it?"

Blushing, Carrie went to perch upon the edge of the bed, hands twisting awkwardly in her lap.

"I wanted to ask you about...about Azkaban."

As she gazed up at the ceiling, attempting to blink the sleep from her eyes, the witch wondered:

"What about it?"

"Well...several things, I suppose..."

"Like what?"

"Like...what was the Mead Hearing?"

Hestia's face contorted at this question and she muttered:

"Bloody hell Carrie, what a question!"

"Sorry..." Carrie mumbled, shifting her feet uncomfortably, though she didn't know quite what she was supposed to be sorry about.

"Who in Merlin's name brought that up? Of all the bloody times, for Merlin's sake!"

"Nobody brought it up, I read about it in a book, I found it in the library, on the desk..." Carrie trailed off at the sound of Hestia giving a snort of disapproval.

"Yeah, well Remus should've been more careful where he left that book lying around." the witch muttered. "I told him so when he came to check on me earlier, had it with him then you see. I told him to put it away so as not to alarm the kids. Not his usual read, is it? I told him so, laughed at him and asked if he was planning to break out once they arrested him...I knew the details about their plans for Mungo's by then, Ginny came up and told me. Remus laughed right back at me, but I reckon he'd been giving it some thought, as crazy as it is."

"It certainly is now." Carrie mumbled despairingly, and Hestia pursed her lips together with a deep frown.

"Was it...really as bad as the others say?" she asked despairingly, and Carrie felt a lump forming in her throat. The muggle managed the stiffest of nods.

For a long moment, Hestia's sickly face grew painfully sad, her eyes drifted closed and she drew in a deep, shuddered breath, before she hissed:  
>"Disgraceful bastards! Merlin help us, what's wrong with the world?"<p>

"It's broken." Carrie mumbled, and the witch gave a grim smile and corrected:

"To be broken it would have had to have been perfect to begin with. It's not broken, Carrie. The fact of the matter is humanity is intrinsically flawed, it has been right from the beginning..." There was a long, solemn pause as the two of them mourned the truth of this observation before the witch sighed heavily and said: "I wouldn't think too much on the conditions in Azkaban, Carrie. For one thing, that book's not entirely up to date, things aren't quite as grim as they were now the Wizengamot have been pumping extra gold into the place."

"I still want to know what happened at the Mead Hearing." Carrie said, folding her arms stubbornly across her chest, and Hestia sighed again, gaze upon the ceiling.

"Helena-Rose Mead was a convicted murderess," she mumbled reluctantly. "She died about...five or so years ago, I suppose. Poor creature."

"She was in Azkaban?"

"Mm...got sentenced to life imprisonment for killing her twelve year old little brother Benjamin when she was just seventeen. Of course they reckon now she might've been under the Imperius Curse, but nobody knows for sure."

"And what happened? To upset the public so much, I mean?"

Hestia puffed her cheeks with a deep frown.

"I'm not going to go filling your head with silliness, Carrie. It won't do you any favours, you know..."

"Please?"

"Just forget it, eh?"

"No. I want...I want to know."

"Why?"

"Because...! I...I want to understand, I want to know...what Remus and Dora are up against, what their...chances are..."

"Sweet Merlin! Chances of what?"

Carrie felt her cheeks redden and her gaze dropped to her feet.

"Alright, alright," Hestia grumbled, teeth clenched. "But I'm telling you now, don't think anything of it because there's never been another reported incident like it since. It was nasty business but it was bloody unheard of too and that's why everybody was so horrified."

Carrie waited for her to continue, but apparently Hestia was still reluctant, so the muggle was forced to ask:

"What happened?"

Hestia screwed her eyes shut for a moment as if she knew full well that she would deeply regret speaking, before she muttered:

"They...raped her."

Carrie felt her stomach lurch uncomfortably.

"Who...? The...the other prisoners?"

"No. That's why everybody got upset. They were guards, a pair of them...and what did the Wizengamot do? Dragged them into a courtroom before sending them back to Azkaban as prisoners! Poor Helena, she was terrified they'd get hold of her again now that all three of them were locked up there...or the other male guards, of course, because she didn't trust anyone after that. She committed suicide within a month, they say it was poison but nobody knows how she got hold of it."

Carrie shuddered.

Hestia chewed rather thoughtfully upon her lip for a moment before adding: "And of course that was when they started vetting the prison guards properly, you have to be almost as squeaky clean as the Aurors to work at Azkaban these days."

"It sounds like the most dreadful place in the world." Carrie murmured with a shudder, and Hestia muttered:

"Well it isn't supposed to be a holiday."

"No but...but being chained up! And...and eating gruel and...and those other things..."

"Those other things, like what happened to Helena?" Hestia asked sharply, and Carrie gave her shoulders a small shrug that the witch scowled at. "I know what you're thinking, Carrie." she said sternly when Carrie dared a glance round at her. "And that's why I didn't want to tell you any silly stories! It doesn't do any good to sit around all night and day worrying! Now you listen to me, and listen good! Nobody's going to starve to death, nobody's going to get picked on, attacked, beaten, assaulted or anything of the sort, d'you hear me? Remus and Tonks will be fine. Have a bit of faith in the system Carrie, Azkaban isn't run by Dousers, the guards there these days are decent people...Tonks is on first name terms with at least half of them, for Merlin's sake!"

Carrie shuffled backwards so that she could reach to hug her knees to her chest.

"How many Death Eaters d'you suppose are locked up there?" she mumbled miserably. "Imagine how pleased they'll be to have a couple of injured Order members handed to them on a plate..."

Hestia gave a strained chuckle.

"Azkaban isn't some sort of wandless free for all, Carrie. They don't just open the cell doors each morning and see who's left alive come evening! The guards aren't stupid, they'll know who's...at risk...I'm sure there's some sort of...system in place..."

Carrie couldn't help but feel that she sounded rather uncertain.

"Have you ever been to Azkaban?" the muggle asked, tone somewhat accusing, and Hestia sighed heavily as she admitted:

"No, never. But...but you have to understand, Carrie, things have changed a lot since what happened to Helena, the system..."

"The system might be as rotten and corrupt as the Ministry that's in charge of it! What does it matter whether or not it's manned by Dousers? The Wizengamot appointed the Dousers in the first place and they've already passed legislation to ruin St. Mungo's! Who's to say they haven't done the same to Azkaban?" Carrie complained, resting her chin dejectedly upon her knees. When Hestia merely frowned deeply, the muggle muttered: "The Order should do something...break in there and rescue Remus and Dora..."

Hestia gave another strained chuckle.

"We've enough rescue missions to be getting on with without attempting something as ridiculous as that, thank you very much! Makes what they did at Mungo's seem perfectly sensible, for Merlin's sake!"

"They're supposed to be here!" Carrie insisted, grasping fistfuls of trouser leg in frustration. "They're supposed to...supposed to protect me! They promised! They both did!"

"There's more to protecting the people we love than acting like bodyguards, Carrie. What about your parents and your family life? Your parents are important to you, they need all the help they can get! Remus and Tonks don't want you being carted off to live with some other relatives, never to see your mum or dad again! It's not bloody right, it would be bloody awful and they've done their best to protect you from that happening. Besides, you're in perfectly safe hands here with the rest of the Order around."

At mention of her parents, Carrie felt her cheeks flush self-consciously as she ducked her head to hide behind a veil of long chestnut hair.

"You know..." she whispered after a long pause. "I've...I've barely thought of Mum and Dad at all...not since...not since Remus and Dora left..."

Hestia failed to comment and Carrie felt much too guilty to dare a sideways glance at her as she wondered:

"Do...do you think that's...bad?"

The witch remained silent for a long moment before she slowly decided:

"It's not good, bad or anything else, Carrie. It simply is what it is."

Carrie bit her lip, frowning deeply as she admitted:

"Sometimes...sometimes I think...I think I'd like it better...if Remus and Dora were my parents instead of Mum and Dad. That's awful, isn't it? It's...wicked..."

Hestia gave a sleepy chuckle.

"You think you're wicked? Don't be ridiculous!"

"But...but Mum and Dad...they're my parents! They brought me into the world, raised me..."

"Everybody reckons they know somebody who has parents who are nicer, cooler, more fun, or less strict than their own parents are, Carrie. But that's perfectly normal, we can't pick our relatives after all. It doesn't mean we love our families less. Besides, the very fact you feel the need to berate yourself for how you feel rather proves that you've nothing to feel bad about."

As the witch failed to suppress another yawn, Carrie felt more embarrassed than ever and she hastily got to her feet.

"I should...let you sleep." she mumbled, offering Hestia a vague smile. "You need your rest."

Hestia let out a despairing chuckle.

"That's what everybody keeps telling me. Rest from what, I wonder? I've not moved a muscle in days!"

Carrie wasn't entirely sure what she could possibly say that was comforting, and so she chose to say nothing at all, turning to shuffle back towards her own bedroom.

Despite her lack of sleep, Carrie was up bright and early the following morning to attend an Order meeting just after breakfast. She gave as detailed an account of her trip to the Department of Mysteries as she could, only skipping over the terrible vision and box she had come across in the little office. The attending Order members listened intently to every word and there was much discussion about the muggle woman with the bleeding hand.

"It's still very strange." Arthur Weasley observed as his wife set another cup of tea down upon the scrubbed wooden table before him. "Sending muggles wandering around the Ministry like that when they're in such a bad way! Surely they'd want to keep them out of the way where people can't see them!"

"Yeah well, never been terribly subtle have they, the Dousers?" Ron muttered, only for Hermione to theorize:

"Perhaps the muggles are important for this...task, whatever it is. Perhaps the Dousers get them to do it so that other Ministry workers don't have to, to avoid suspicion."

"I tell you what else doesn't add up," George said as Minerva McGonnogal frowned deeply at Hermione's words. "These people the muggle said she had been to see, she said they hoped Carrie didn't get obliviated for Remus and Tonks' sake! Well that's just strange, don't you think? Why on earth would the Dousers give a toss about Remus and Tonks' feelings, for Merlin's sake?"

"Nobody said "they" were Dousers." Ginny murmured from her position sat at the head of the table, a generous length of bandage wrapped tightly around her head.

"That's very true," Charlie agreed as he glanced past Carrie to examine the clock upon the wall. At the sight of the time his eyes widened a little and he muttered: "Bugger, I'm going to be late..." he rose abruptly to his feet and looked around the room expectantly as he asked: "I need a volunteer or two to come to Queenswood with me since Bill's not up for it! Any takers?"

At Carrie's side, Teddy's hand instantly shot up into the air.

"I'll come." the young wizard announced boldly, practically jumping to his feet.

Carrie turned to gaze up at him. His hair was a dull mousy brown and his clothes, which she was pretty sure he had been wearing the day beforehand, were crumpled. She wondered if he had bothered to go to bed the previous evening, or if he had struggled to sleep as much as she had. The two of them had barely spoken a word to each other so far that morning, save for a mumbled good morning by the toaster as he poured them both a cup of tea as the other Order members took their seats ready for the meeting. He looked rather pale and sickly, indeed his complexion reminded Carrie of the weariness that had been etched into Dora's features when the muggle had first arrived at Grimmauld Place. Despite his apparent fatigue, Teddy's eyes were alert and determined, defiant even when Molly murmured:

"Now Teddy dear, are you quite sure..."

"Yes. Very sure." Teddy insisted, giving his head a firm nod. "I want to help! I...I want to keep busy..."

Carrie couldn't help but feel that he sounded rather desperate for the distraction, and she rather thought that it was a good idea.

"Me too!" the muggle declared, rising from her chair. Reaching to grasp hold of the youngest Lupin by the hand she added: "I want to help...if I can."

"There's no magic involved in a stake out." Charlie consented, only for Molly to complain:

"You've both done us proud enough already! Perhaps you should stay here..."

"No." Teddy interrupted firmly. "We're going."

Molly opened her mouth to protest, only for Charlie to add:

"No time for arguments, Mum, if we aren't careful we won't be in place before the Dousers arrive!" And with that, he turned to lead the way out of the kitchen.

As she and Teddy hurried along behind the older wizard, who paused beside the front door to snatch up a brown sack-like bag, slinging it over his shoulder, Carrie finally thought to ask:

"What are we doing, exactly?"

"We've been keeping an eye on the movements of key Dousers for the past few weeks." Charlie announced as he reached to pull open the front door to lead them out into the street beyond. "It's come to our attention that they have a habit of congregating for meetings of some sort in Queenswood each morning...probably, we think, to discuss things they can't risk being overheard at the Ministry."

As she and Teddy came to a halt at the bottom of the steps that led down to the pavement, Carrie wondered:

"Why would they choose to meet in Queenswood?"

Charlie turned to face them, reaching to lay a hand upon each teenager's shoulder.

"Because," the red-head explained, "it's where Ambrose Kraft and what's left of his family live."

And with that, the three of them disapparated with a pop.

Carrie had little opportunity to ask any more questions, for no sooner had they apparated onto the outskirts of Queenswood, Charlie had ushered them into a nearby copse of trees. A thick hedge ran along beside the trees, outlining the boundaries of a small cottage garden. The cottage in question was constructed of dirty red bricks, peeling paint upon the window ledges, under which were a number of empty flower pots.

"Here's the deal." Charlie hissed as the three of them dropped down behind the hedge. "We wait and see who shows up, see if we can overhear anything...but whatever happens don't take any risks. We don't want any more of us winding up in Azkaban!"

Half an hour passed and there was no sign of life either inside or outside of the house. Carrie's legs were beginning to grow painful from crouching for so long, but nevertheless she stared determinedly through the foliage at the cottage's front door.

She had been staring for such a long time that when it finally was thrown open the muggle very nearly let out a shriek of surprise. She reached to slap a hand down upon Teddy's knee to get his attention, and the metamorphmagus leant eagerly forward to get a better look.

Two Dousers, one of which Carrie recognised as one of the men who had been having stern words with Remus at the Phoenix Day parade, stepped out into the morning sunlight, murmuring to one another inaudibly as they both reached to draw their wands. As they made their way down the garden pathway and onto the road, Carrie heard one of them mutter:

"You go left, then, and I'll go right."

Carrie's intrigue as to what the pair were up to was disturbed by a soft rustling sound beside her, and she glanced sideways just in time to see Charlie pulling a mass of strangely coloured material from the bag that he had taken from the hallway back at Grimmauld.

"Ted, follow the fat one." Carrie heard him breathe as he thrust one of two invisibility cloaks into Teddy's arms. "I'll follow the other. Meet back here in no more than fifteen minutes. Carrie, stay and watch the house."

As he reached to unfold the cloak and throw it about his shoulders, Teddy shot the muggle an imploring look as he mouthed:

"Be careful, Sweetheart."

"You too." Carrie mouthed back, and no sooner had both wizards disappeared beneath the cloaks the muggle felt a stab of anxiety at the thought of being alone...

She suddenly wished that she hadn't shared Teddy's desire to be busy.

Carrie hurriedly turned her attention back to the cottage, crouching lower than ever despite the aching protest of her back. Within minutes she had started to grow paranoid.

Had she always breathed so loudly?

What if somebody were to hear her?

Stop it. Right now. After all, compared to the Department of Mysteries, Queenswood was a walk in the park...

Crack!

At the sound of somebody apparating not far away, Carrie flinched and shuffled closer to the hedge, biting her lip in her attempts to remain silent...

And that was when she saw him. Hoisted up between two navy-clad Dousers as they marched towards the front door of the cottage, his bare feet dragging uselessly along the ground, one leg bent awkwardly at the knee as if it were broken. The shackles clamped around his ankles seemed holy unnecessary and downright pointless given the state of him, indeed for a long, horrified moment Carrie thought she was staring at a corpse. His pale face was somewhat obscured as his head lolled forward towards his chest, and his clothes, oversized with the faded stripes that made them look rather like pyjamas, were bloodied.

She'd very nearly screamed, indeed she was forced to clamp a hand down across her mouth to stop herself shouting his name.

She bit down so hard on her tongue to stifle any sort of outburst that as she watched the door open and the Dousers drag Remus Lupin into the Kraft residence Carrie Winters could taste blood in her mouth.

As soon as the door swung shut behind them, Charlie's warning to stay well hidden was instantly forgotten. Carrie leapt to her feet and dashed for the hedge's end, scrambling over a low wall and making a beeline for the open living room window that Charlie had spend the previous half an hour staring blankly at. Dropping down below the window ledge, Carrie strained her ears to hear the voices within drifting outside.

"Set him down, set him down!" the impatient voice of Ambrose Kraft demanded, and as she heard the scraping of chair legs Carrie suppressed a shudder of panic, rising up a little so that she could peer through the window.

Kraft was stood with his back to the window, leaning against a writing desk as he stared down his nose at his colleagues efforts to sit Remus upon the wooden chair in front of him. They seemed to be having some difficultly, Carrie saw, for the werewolf appeared to be struggling to hold himself upright. After a couple of unsuccessful minutes Kraft tutted irritably, reaching to draw the wand from his pocket. Carrie watched, heart hammering in her chest as thin cords sprung from the Douser's wand, wrapping themselves around the captive and the chair until they were so tight that Remus was sat bolt upright, breathing suddenly shallow.

In the back of her head, a voice demanded that Carrie turn away from the horrible scene, run and find Charlie and Teddy...perhaps they might do something, break into the cottage, set Remus free...

And yet the muggle felt such terrible dread as she watched Ambrose Kraft advance upon the werewolf, wand pointing threateningly at his face, that she did not dare to move a muscle, she was transfixed with panic.

As Kraft approached him, Remus gazed up at the man, bruised features accommodating the look that had on so many occasions dispelled Carrie's fear on the spot: Polite interest.

"I must say," the bedraggled Order member murmured, voice hoarse, "the Ministry've done a wonderful job doing up these courtrooms. Very...homely..."

The two Dousers stood just behind his chair smirked as the tip of Kraft's wand jabbed him sharply in the cheek. He didn't so much as flinch.

"You have been brought here, Mr. Lupin," Kraft announced as he began a slow, deliberating walk around the captive's chair, rather like a hyena circling its prey. "Because I am told that you have thus far chosen to be uncooperative with those at Azkaban who have sought to question you regarding the current base of operations of the Order of the Phoenix."

Remus said nothing. There was silence for a moment as Kraft completed his first lap of the chair, and he came to a halt before the werewolf, leaning forward so that he could stare unblinkingly at him.

"I wonder, Mr. Lupin," Carrie heard him say, wand once again raised, the tip pressed firmly against Remus' chest. "If you might prefer to cooperate with myself and my colleagues instead?"

Again, Remus said nothing.

Kraft heaved a heavy sigh, before abruptly reaching forward to grasp hold of the werewolf by the scruff of the neck, giving him a violent shake.

"You will cooperate with me." Carrie heard him hiss threateningly. "You will! Think you're a bit battered now, do you? Think you're broken? WELL I'LL RUIN YOU! Every bloody bone, every muscle, every inch of flesh!"

Remus sighed. He sounded...bored...

Kraft gave a furious growl and with a sharp flick of his wand there was a loud bang and both chair and captive were thrown backwards across the room into the wall behind them, and Carrie suppressed a soft whimper of horror as Remus' head collided with the plaster with a audible crack. The muggle watched his head loll forward, and for a terrible moment she thought he may have passed out from the impact, but his eyes soon flickered open again and he looked up...

Only for his gaze to come to rest upon the window across the room, where a familiar face was peering through the opening at him...

As they locked gazes with one another, the breath catching in Carrie's throat as she felt his glassy-eyed stare upon her, Remus reacted to the surprise of her presence as Carrie was certain only he ever could:

He simply didn't.

His expression remained entirely unchanged and within the blink of an eye his gaze had dropped to his feet.

"Perhaps I shall have to write to Azkaban," Kraft said, pacing back and forward before the desk. "Ask them to have a word or two with your wife."

"Perhaps you shall." Remus agreed stubbornly. "You will ask them to send her my love, won't you?"

Kraft's expression twisted irritably before he turned to the desk, reaching to pick up a neat little pile of documents that he peered down at thoughtfully.

"According to these records from the Azkaban Registry," he said as he skimmed down one page, "you're an extremely lucky man, Mr. Lupin...few cuts and bruises, major burns upon your chest, only one broken bone and a couple of fractures...perhaps we might add a few more come this afternoon..."

Carrie didn't think that sounded particularly lucky.

"...the best we can hope for is a wound or two becoming infected, a rather slow death, I suppose, but I'm a patient man..."

Carrie shuddered.

"...your _wife_, on the other hand..." Kraft shuffled the papers so that he could examine a different page, sucking in a deep breath as he shook his head. "Dear me!" he tutted. "What a bad stroke of luck!" As he tossed the papers back down onto the desk, Carrie wasn't sure what alarmed her more, his assessment of Dora's condition or the fact that at long last the cracks began to show upon Remus' calm and indifferent facade. Indeed, the werewolf went as far as to swallow a lump in his throat. This seemingly did not go unnoticed by Kraft, who sauntered across the room, sickeningly smug.

"I might pop over there and visit her myself!" the Douser mused cheerily as Remus attempted to shift in his chair, expression instantly hardening. "Tonks was always my favorite of the Aurors when they used to visit my old office before I got reappointed...her and Wickes, obviously...never could pick between the two of them myself..."

The other two Dousers both sniggered. Remus' eyes drifted closed. Kraft came to a halt beside the chair, stooping so that he could hiss in the werewolf's ear, Carrie struggled to hear him.

"Then again," she heard as Remus' jaw visibly clenched. "I'm rather bored of talking with you people. If she is to be as boring as you, which you seem rather confident of...well...perhaps the time for talking is over! Perhaps...the time has come for...other measures..." He straightened up, folding his arms firmly across his chest as he stepped to stand directly in front of his captive, before demanding: "Tell me the current location of the Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix and how I may find it!"

Remus remained mute.

"I am going to give you one last chance, Mr. Lupin!" Kraft growled, positively trembling with fury at the lack of response. "You will tell me what I wish to know, or I will send for your wife, have her dragged from that stinking prison cell of hers to this place, where I will proceed to lock her in that room to your left with a half a dozen or so of my men, and then I shall give you the honour of sitting out here to listen to whatever protests she sees fit to make, be that screaming, crying, choking or anything else! How much torture do you suppose she can take in her condition? We could have a bet, you and I!"

As she felt hot tears begin to cascade silently down her cheeks, Carrie watched Remus bow his head, still silent.

There was a long pause as Kraft simply glowered at the werewolf furiously for his continued silence before he reached forward to grab a fistful of hair, yanking Remus' head back so that he could look him in the eye.

"We've been very fortunate in my department at the Ministry, Mr. Lupin." Carrie heard him announce, voice again painfully smug. "We've had a great number of volunteers to join our ranks, but so far we've failed to recruit a single female Douser. Unfortunate, don't you think? And our hours! We work such grueling long hours, don't we boys?"

The other two Dousers murmured sniggering agreement, and Kraft's expression grew suddenly vicious as he leant forward, lips mere inches from the werewolf's ear as he hissed:

"We very much miss the company of those of the female persuasion, as I'm sure you can imagine!"

Remus' eyes instantly widened in panic. Kraft smirked.

"Tell me, Mr. Lupin," the Dousers breathed, as to Carrie's surprise Remus glanced around searchingly by the window until their gazes once again met. "That morphing your wife can perform so flawlessly..._does she do requests_?"

Carrie found herself reaching to grasp fistfuls of hair in agitation as Remus gave a visible shudder.

"I'll ask you one more time, shall I?" Kraft spat, positively grinning, and his gaze fixed somewhat imploringly upon the muggle outside, Remus cleared his throat meaningfully as he said rather loudly:

"You want me to betray the Order to you and tell you how to find Headquarters, or else?"

"Indeed, Mr. Lupin." Kraft said, undoubtably pleased with himself. "_Or else_."

And with that, gaze still fixated upon Carrie, Remus wet his lips, slowly, deliberately, before he agreed:

"Alright then. I'll tell you everything."


	15. Obliviation

_Note: This is either ingenious or utterly rubbish. I'm rather hoping for the former..._

_Still, if it all goes wrong from here on after, I shall simply **blame Sam**, because she told me I wasn't as insane as I first suspected. _

_This chapter is dedicated to** sango7higurashi** for such a lovely review for the previous chapter! _

_It's also partially dedicated to **Sam** because, as I said, this is all her fault...!_

_Thank you so much to everybody who has reviewed this story so far, you really do make me smile!_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor am I making any profit from this piee of writing. I do, however, own Caroline "Carrie" Winters._

**15: Obliviation**

As she scrambled back over the wall and made a hurried dash for the trees, pounding heart sending a thundering surge of blood through her body, Carrie Winters looked around desperately for signs of life. She very nearly shouted for Teddy and Charlie at the top of her lungs, but managed to restrain herself from such a blunder that would no doubt alert the Dousers to her presence.

When she had first heard Remus cave under the mounting pressure of the Dousers' unbearable threats, Carrie hadn't quite believed her ears. Despite the hopelessness of the situation she had stayed staring through the window for a minute, waiting for the werewolf to come up with a flawless and spectacular lie, or to smirk straight back at the insufferable bastards and announce that he'd been joking, even talk both himself and Dora out of this mess...

Except Remus had done nothing but pause despairingly for a long moment, as if he could scarcely believe what he was doing, only for Kraft to comment:

"I like brunettes, myself."

And any slight doubt that had been in Remus' mind instantly vanished as he hurriedly murmured:

"The Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix is at Number 12 Grimmauld Place, London."

"Good!" Kraft praised mockingly, beginning to pace back and forth. "That wasn't too difficult now, was it Mr. Lupin? Now, there must be all sorts of protective spells upon the place, yes?"

"Yes."

"Tell me about them. All of them."

"Um..." Remus had hesitated again, glancing up at his captors to see the other two Dousers had become distracted by a hushed conversation of some kind and, with Kraft's back to him, the werewolf had looked searchingly over to the window again.

_Warn them. _

She'd seen the words form silently upon his lips as his gaze found her, her heart giving a small jolt in her chest.

_Warn the Order._

And Carrie had instantly turned on her heel and fled.

This was it, the muggle realised as she broke free of the trees and sprinted across the grass and onto the village's main street. Carrie was it, the trick up Remus' sleeve. He was relying on her, Dora was relying on her, the entire Order of the Phoenix was relying on her...

Where in Merlin's name had Teddy and Charlie gotten to?

Carrie ran the length of the street, gaze darting back and forth as she passed the small cluster of muggle shops, only to come to an abrupt halt at the sound of a loud, woeful wail, and she watched a young woman with long, blonde hair stumble out of a side street, a pink-faced infant clutched to her chest.

"Please!" Carrie heard the woman beg as she hugged the sobbing baby to her, head bowed miserably as she stumbled forward another few steps. "Please, my little boy...he...he has a right to see his father!"

"Your little boy is better off without such a sorry excuse for a father!" a man's voice snapped, and Carrie failed to suppress a gasp of alarm at the sight of a navy-cloaked man stride along behind the woman, wand clutched firmly in his hand. "You do know what happened here, don't you? You do know he was probably involved, don't you? You do know that your disgraceful muggle bastard of a boyfriend is responsible for the deaths of..."

"He had NOTHING to do with it!" the woman shrieked defiantly, spinning around to face the Douser, the child in her arms wailing louder than ever. "How DARE YOU accuse my Nathaniel of such a thing!"

"Don't you worry your little head about it, Sweetheart." the Douser jeered, raising his wand and giving it a mocking little wave. "He's on our list, just like all the others! We'll come and pay him a visit soon enough!"

The woman's expression grew suddenly panicked and for a horrible moment Carrie thought she might burst into tears, but then she drew in a deep breath, straightening up so that she could glower at the Douser, eyes deathly cold.

"I hope the Phoenix burns you!" Carrie heard her hiss furiously, causing the Douser's face to contort in anger. "You best hope you can cast a decent water charm because people wouldn't piss on scum like you to put the fire out!"

The Douser seemed somewhat stunned by the witch's rudeness and Carrie watched her hurriedly back away from him, adjusting her grip upon the crying baby before she offered him one last insult.

"Long live the Order of the Phoenix!" she declared, and with that she disapparated with a loud pop.

As soon as she was gone, Carrie felt her heart begin to race in panic to see the Douser turn to walk up the street towards her, and the muggle fled down the nearest side street. She dared not glance back to see if she had been spotted, to see if she was being chased, but she kept on running until she reached the safety of the village churchyard, the tall mass of the church steeple rising up above the surround cottages. Carrie hurried under the small archway that served as an entrance to the graveyard and made a run for the cover of a secluded and over-hanging tree in one corner, dodging headstones as she went. Once in the shade of the tree she dropped into a crouch behind a large and elaborate gravestone made of pure white stone, her breath ragged in panic as she dared a glance back towards the archway in search of her possible pursuer.

Nothing disturbed the churchyard before her save the soft breeze rustling the tree beside her, and Carrie allowed herself to let out a small sigh of relief...

And yet as she crouched down upon the damp earth, one hand resting upon the cool stone of the grave in front of her to keep her balance, a slight pick up of the breeze making her give a little jump, Carrie Winters felt no true sense of relief.

Not in the slightest.

Indeed, the muggle felt a horrible urge to weep. To weep at the sudden responsibility that had been placed upon her, to weep at just how inadequate she felt for her given task, to weep for the simple fact that she was so helplessly alone...

"Where are you, Teddy?" she wondered aloud, glancing around searchingly as if the youngest Lupin might just appear before her, that reassuring smile upon his lips that appeared to be a family trait.

Slowly, after several long minutes her racing heart began to slow to a steadier pace and she began to feel somewhat safe and secure, crouched down amongst the weeds and the tree roots. She was safe here, she assured herself, reaching absentmindedly to brush a stray leaf from the headstone before her. She was safe, she was hidden...

And yet sooner rather than later she was going to have to leave the safety of her hiding place and venture back out into the streets, back to Kraft's cottage in search of Teddy and Charlie.

She needed to go now. Right now. Remus was relying on her...

And yet Carrie could not bear to move. The terrible fear and anxiety that seemed able to strike her with renewed ferocity time after time, the full force of the cruelty and malice in the world, had taken a hold upon her again, and Carrie felt as if it would smother her.

How in Merlin's name Remus had come to place such unwavering trust in her was both unbelievable and unbearable. Carrie wasn't sure that she could stand the responsibility, nor the mere thought of the consequences should anything go wrong.

It wasn't supposed to be like this. It wasn't supposed to be Carrie left to save the day, that was meant to be up to Remus, he was supposed to say a few magic words and make it all better...

And yet Carrie knew full well that she was wrong. It was her responsibility whether she liked it or not...

She liked it not.

With a sniff, Carrie reached to run a finger across the headstone, tracing the letters upon it absentmindedly, a vain attempt at distraction.

K. R. A. F...

T?

Kraft?

Carrie shuffled back a little so that she could get a clearer look at the headstone.

_In loving memory of Amadeus Albert Kraft, his wife Cornelia "Nellie" Kraft and their daughter Matilda "Tilly" Kraft..._

Carrie reached to rub at the mud near the bottom of the inscription, pushing aside long blades of grass to finish reading. According to the carefully carved lettering Amadeus and Cornelia Kraft had died aged thirty one and twenty seven respectively. Their daughter Matilda had been just five years old. All three had passed away on the same day, some six months previously...

_The Queenswood Incident_, Carrie thought dully and she let out a despairing sigh. An entire family wiped out, just like that...

No wonder Ambrose Kraft was so terribly keen on rounding up muggles.

Carrie sat, staring at the gravestone for a long while, disgusted and weary of the worlds of wizards and muggles colliding and leaving such a shameful and bitter aftermath...

"I'm sorry." she found herself whispering mournfully, reaching again to wipe mud from the stone. "I'm so very, very sorry. I wish...I wish we could all just get along...I wish we hadn't grown so hateful...look at us now. You're getting your revenge and it's so very, very ugly. I wish it wasn't. I wish...I wish it had never started, that things could just be...better...I'd give anything for that, I swear..." She was silent for a long moment, reaching to wipe another smear from the headstone. "Remus says we can learn a lot from one another." she recalled with a sigh. "But we only seem to learn how to be frightened."

"Remus says a lot of interesting things, doesn't he?" a voice from behind her observed, and Carrie leapt to her feet in panic, spinning around to face the speaker who was stood just the other side of the low churchyard wall. At the sight of him, Carrie felt fear seize her and she stumbled back a step, back colliding with the headstone as she drew in a gasping, horrified breath.

Ambrose Kraft smirked triumphantly, leaning heavily upon his walking stick as he slowly raised his wand, eyes piercing as he stared at the muggle.

"Fancy seeing you here, Miss Winters!" he exclaimed, voice mockingly cheery. "What brings a traitorous little wretch such as yourself here on a day like this, I wonder?"

Carrie opened her mouth, but it took a long moment for any sound to come out.

"I...I..."

"You wouldn't happen to have been listening in to my conversation with Mr. Lupin earlier, would you?" Kraft guessed, predatory eyes glinting menacingly.

"I...no! No...that's...that's not..."

"Very clever on the Order's part, I must say, to pick a spy like you. After all, muggles are inherently sneaky, nosy little creatures, aren't they? Perfect for the job, really..."

"I...I don't know what you're talking about! I...I just..." Carrie paused to swallow the lump in her throat, mind racing desperately for some form of excuse until she recalled the stone at her back and she hurriedly mumbled: "I came to...to visit the graves!"

Kraft's face contorted, rather as if he had smelt something rotten.

"You came to visit the graves?"

"Yes! Yes I...I just...I just thought...well...it's...it's so sad, so terrible, what happened, and I...well..."

"You thought you'd come and have a good gloat, did you?"

"No...of course not..."

"In which case you were spying on us."

"No!"

"DON'T LIE!" Kraft's face contorted furiously and he raised his wand, pointing it threateningly at the muggle's chest. "Scabior saw you through the window, running off through the trees!"

Carrie felt her stomach give a horrible jolt as she stared at the wand, dread leaving cold sweat to trickle down the back of her neck. She gave a small shudder, before drawing a deep breath and demanding to know:

"What...what have you done to Dora? What...what's wrong with her, what did the people at Azkaban say?"

Kraft puffed his cheeks rather thoughtfully, giving his wand a teasing little wave that made the air catch in her throat. She leant further back against the headstone, heartbeat pounding in her ears.

"Well I suppose I could tell you all the gory details." he mused as he took a step forward, leaning over the wall to leer at her fearful face. "But then again it would be a waste of my breath, wouldn't it muggle? You won't remember a word I say, after all."

His grip upon the wand suddenly tightened. Carrie's eyes widened in horror at the sudden movement and she immediately felt tears begin to prickle at her eyes.

"P...please..." the muggle whimpered, shoulders hunched in anxious anticipation. "Please don't...please don't hurt me..."

"Five years." Kraft hissed, face reddening in anger as Carrie failed to suppress a sob of panic, reaching to duck her head with a sniff. "Five short years! That was the entirety of my niece's life! Just five years! She was only a little girl when your people came after her family! They threw stones! They threw stones at a five year old child, pushed her, shoved her, dragged her screaming away from her parents and DROWNED HER IN THE GARDEN POND!"

Despite her panic, Carrie's eyes widened in horror, and she reached to tug nervously at a strand of hair as she murmured:

"I'm...I'm sorry...I'm sorry a...about Tilly, but please..."

"YOUR PEOPLE ARE BARBARIC! YOU'VE NO RIGHT TO INTERFER WITH US!"

"They...they're not my people...I...I don't want anything to do with...with people like...like that...I just...please...please don't hurt me! Please...I...I...don't...please don't o...obliviate me, I'll do anything, I swear, just...just don't...please..."

But her mumbled pleading fell on deaf ears. Ambrose Kraft drew back his wand, ready to strike...

Carrie Winters flinched in anticipation, screwing her eyes shut with a gasp of terror...

This was it, the muggle realised as ice-cold horror struck her with brutal force, this was it, this was the end...

She was going to lose her thoughts, her memories...

She was going to lose Teddy. She was going to lose Remus and Dora. She was going to lose her boyfriend, her best friend, her soul mate, she was going to lose her beloved parents, her perfect second family, lose her wonderful little magical world. And she wouldn't even know it.

It would all be over. It would all be lost. Everything. Every last little shred of memory...

And there was nothing to be done, no knights in shining armour to save the day, no fearless wonders, no guardian angels...

It was just too late...

Too hopeless...

And Merlin, the realisation left her with such weakness, such utterly despair that she felt as if she were falling, that her time soaring above the clouds was being cut short and she was falling down and down into the depths, into the darkness...

Nothing was going to break her fall.

_Please, please, anything but this,_ she thought desperately as salty tears cascading down her cheeks. _I'd settle for anything but this, I'd rather die than forget..._

Because life wasn't worth living without her magical little world. Carrie Winters was sure of that. Indeed, being without it was death to her, after all the Lupins had shaped her life so much over the years, it was thanks to them that she was who she was, that she thought as she did, felt as she did, loved them as she did...

It was at that precise moment, as she heard the terrible sound of Ambrose Kraft's wand swiping through the air, that Carrie Winters truly understood the magnitude of her current situation.

She was, to all intents and purposes, about to die. Her life was about to be wiped from her mind, in dazzling flash of light...

_No..._

Remember, Carrie, she silently pleaded with herself as Kraft drew in a deep breath, ready to strike. Remember it, remember them, remember everything...

"OBLIVIATE!"

The spell struck the muggle square in the face and she was thrown back against the headstone, eyes still screwed tight shut...

No...

Remember, Carrie, remember it, remember them...

Remember everything.

Remember those first times...

_And that was when she first saw him, sat beneath the tree, the boy in the wooly hat..._

Never forget them...

_"Hello...my name's Carrie...Caroline Winters. My family just moved in here." _

_"Hello Carrie," he called back, offering her a little wave with his other hand. "My name's Teddy. Teddy Lupin."_

_"You're wearing a wooly hat." Carrie called, just in case he hadn't noticed his blunder._

Never let them go...

_At that moment, there came the sound of footsteps from within and Carrie took another little step backwards. She was just considering abandoning the cookies upon the doorstep and fleeing back to her own house when the door opened and she found herself staring up at a woman who looked nothing like anything that Carrie had expected. The first thing that struck Carrie was the woman's hair. It was an alarmingly bright shade of bubblegum pink, framing her heart-shaped face in an array of short, spiky strands. She had dark, twinkling eyes and was dressed in a pair of black jeans and a vest top that striped in various shades of pink. Carrie noted the wedding ring upon her finger and, straightening up a little asked:_

_"Mrs Lupin?"_

_The woman leaned casually against the door frame and, smiling brightly, told her visitor:_

_"Yep, that would be me."_

Not even for a second...

_It was at that moment there came the sound of gravel crunching underfoot and Mrs Lupin glanced past Carrie down the driveway. Carrie turned to see a man dressed in a long sleeved cream shirt and smart brown trousers making his way up the drive, his light brown hair flecked with grey being ruffled by the morning breeze._

_"You're late." Mrs Lupin called to him, folding her arms firmly across her chest, and the man paused, eying Carrie for a long moment before announcing:_

_"The bus broke down."_

_Mrs Lupin appeared to find this excuse amusing, funny even and she sniggered as the man continued on up the path. For the life of her, Carrie could not imagine what was so funny about a broken down bus._

Don't think of the pain, don't think of the tearing of thoughts. Remember the friendship...

_"I never made friends with anyone in the old houses. We didn't stay long enough half the time, and then I'd just think...what's the point of making friends? We'll only end up moving again. But now...now you're here..." He stopped pushing and after a while Carrie felt the swing begin to lose momentum. "Carrie?" he mumbled eventually, and Carrie barely heard him. "I want to tell you the secret." _

Remember the secret...

_"You...you...how did...how did you do that?"_

_"It's magic." Teddy told her, rolling his eyes as if it were obvious._

Remember the joy of acceptance...

_"Why did you stop them?" she asked, taking a step further towards him. "Why would you do that? It's risky for you, having me know what you are. Why didn't you just let the Obliviators deal with me? Or why didn't you just...just zap my brain the moment you found out?"_

_"To be honest, I don't really do a great deal of brain zapping, myself." he smiled, resting the book that he had retrieved upon his knees. At her expectant stare he told her: "I did what I did, Carrie, because you're a nice, well mannered young lady and I am glad that my son has made friends with you. I would like him to grow up to be an open minded and accepting person, and he won't end up that way if I tell him to steer clear of muggles and only mix with people of his own kind. We have boundaries enough in life without people throwing up a few extra ones."_

Her head was throbbing, aching in protest and she felt as if her thoughts were beginning to slip away, as if they were somehow distance...detached...

But she had to remember, had to recall, just once more, just once.

Remember, Carrie, the warming sense of family...

"_I'm going to make this very simple for you." the Auror announced as she and Amanda reached the bottom of the stairs. "You give us our kid, and we'll give you yours."_

Don't let it slip away...

"_Sometimes I reckon we've already as good as got ourselves a daughter, too..."_

She could feel her legs giving way, feel the smooth stone against her back as she slid down towards the ground, her head so sore, so...slow...

But she'd cling on to the affection, to the love and adoration...

_"You've convinced yourself that you'd be better off being like us, being magical. And you're so bloody obsessed with it that you don't even realise! You don't realise that you're perfect just the way you are!" _

Don't let it leave you, Carrie, not yet, remember again if only for a second, no matter how it hurts, no matter how easily it might just slip away...

"_I won't let you ruin things. I won't let you get...get us wrong. We're much too important to me." _

Her mind felt so blurred, so confused, and yet as she felt herself hit the ground, limbs sprawled upon the dirt, she focused furiously on one more memory, just one more...the swing and the butterflies zooming around her stomach and Teddy...

_"You probably want to run away or something. But I'm going to kiss you anyway." _

_"I'm not going to run away." _

Her head had hurt then, too, if she concentrated hard she could almost pretend she was back there, blushing furiously from her tumble from the swing, jaw aching from grinning like an idiot...

_"Are you asking me to be your girlfriend, Mr. Lupin?"_

_"Do you know, Miss Winters, I do believe I am!"_

It was glorious, such glorious pain, yet it was consuming her, her thoughts growing ever more distant...

She couldn't quite think...couldn't quite concentrate and oh God...make it stop, make the gathering fog disappear, make it go away, bring back the sunlight and the laughter and her ever failing mind...

_"Please Ted," Carrie begged, warm tears beginning to seep from her eyes into a damp patch upon his chest. "Please don't let them take you away from me."_

They were slipping away...she was forgetting...she couldn't quite remember...

"_You don't need to be worried or frightened..."_ Then...then...

Then something...a promise...

Remember, Carrie. Remember Dora's exact words...

"_Remus and I won't let anything bad happen to you, I promise." _

Remember Hogwarts. Remember ghosts and disappearing stairs and remember Remus in the Great Hall, remember what he recalled, what he had promised...

_"To think," he murmured, fingers tracing the stone's edge, "that we thought this place so untouchable...even when we knew he was coming. We kept falling back, into the castle, into this room and yet there was always that thought in the back of my head...this is Hogwarts. You can't break us here. Not inside these walls. There's no place safer in the whole world than Hogwarts..." he trailed off with a shake of the head before glancing up at the watching muggle with a small smile. "But of course it wasn't Hogwarts that brought Voldemort ruin. It was people. The truth of the matter is, Carrie, that it doesn't matter where we are or where we go in the world. It's people who save us, not bricks and mortar."_

_"Good thing I've got you and Dora around then." Carrie told him with a bright smile as he straightened up. "To save me, I mean."_

_And Remus fixed her with such an intense gaze that she felt her heard begin to race before he swore:_

_"Always. I promise."_

She was going to be empty, everything so blank and dead and lifeless, all the fond memories and happiness gone. She couldn't bear the thought, couldn't stand it...

Just one more. One more memory as she began to slip away into blankness, remember...

Remember being silly.

_"I've missed you all SO much!" Carrie complained, voice muffled by the material. "I thought...I thought you'd all just...forgotten me! How silly was I?"_

_"Monumentally, Carrie love." Dora chuckled, giving her a comforting pat upon the back. "But never mind, eh? We love you for it."_

Remember the hatred.

"_I...I hate it! I...I HATE MAGIC! I hate magic and I hate wizards and witches and...and everything that goes along with them!"_

Remember the love, eternal...

_Teddy's gaze fell dejectedly to his shoes and he shifted a little uncomfortably before mumbling:_

_"Well...that's a real shame. Because we love you." He looked up at her, expression unexpectedly stern as he informed her: "I love you, Carrie. You can't just run away from me, I won't let you."_

Remember that life as it slowly ends...

_I...I don't fit in with...with your life..."_

_Teddy let out a disbelieving huff, grip upon her hand tightening as he pulled her around to face him again._

_"How could you possibly think that?" he asked her, as somewhere in the distance Carrie could have sworn she heard somebody calling her name searchingly at the top of their lungs. "For Merlin's sake, Carrie! Of course you fit in with my life! You ARE my life!"_

The darkness was seeping into the deep depths of her mind, she could barely recall how she had come to be in such a state...why she needed to remember...what had been the point?

"_I love you, I'll love you for forever and a day, I'll never leave you, you'll always have me." _

Such glorious, glorious pain...

It was fading...everything was fading...

"_Sometimes...sometimes I think...I think I'd like it better...if Remus and Dora were my parents instead of Mum and Dad."_

It was...

Gone.

Ambrose Kraft stood for a triumphant moment, staring down at the unconscious muggle that lay before the grave of his murdered relatives, and as a sudden breeze swept a few stray strands of hair back from her pale, blank face, the wizard allowed himself a satisfied smile.


	16. Let The Monsters See You Smile

_Note: This chapter is dedicated to **teddy bear cullen**, for not only writing an amusing review, but for also being the **200****th**** reviewer** of this story! Looks like this could be the most popular Meet the... story so far! Thank you so much to everybody who takes the time to review, it's always great to hear from you!_

_For anybody who is bored/interested, I appear to have awakened my obsession for making up tunes on the piano. I only ever completed exams up to Grade 2 and after that I've been self taught...badly! The first draft of Carrie's Theme is up on YouTube and there is a link to it on my profile. Eventually I plan on recording it on a decent camera, as well as maybe making it longer, less repetitive and generally less rubbish! I might try and con somebody into drawing me a nice picture to replace the boring title that's there at the moment, too..._

_The song that Tonks heard on the wireless, as mentioned in this chapter and it's title, is in actual fact one of my favorites – Life Is Beautiful by Vega 4. It's the sort of song that makes you feel ready to take on the entire world single-handedly...and win._

**16: Let The Monsters See You Smile**

She could feel hot, ragged breath upon her face as she became aware of movement around her and Carrie Winters felt such confusion at the alien sounds and sensations that she dared not move a muscle.

Her head was throbbing. It rather made her wish that she hadn't woken up. She could feel a dull ache blossoming upon one elbow and for some unknown reason she could feel a warm dampness between her legs...

Damp...? She hadn't! Surely not...

What on earth was going on?

Somebody was pressing fingers to her throat, as if searching for a pulse. They felt clammy...

The ground beneath her was terribly hard, it had left her back feeling stiff as a board and she wondered vaguely how she had come to be lying there in the first place, or indeed how long she had been there. Surely it would have been far more sensible to sleep in a bed...

"She's got a strong pulse." a man's voice observed, apparently deeply relieved. Carrie momentarily shared this feeling only to feel terror grip her at the realisation that she had absolutely no idea who the voice belonged to, indeed she was certain that she had never heard it before in her life...

Terror's grip ought be a bit more forceful, she found herself musing as the fingers left her throat and the stranger instead reached to press a hand against her forehead. It ought strike more suddenly...it ought be a shock to her system...

But seemingly her system didn't do shocks. It did slow, dim realisation...emotion in half measures as if it couldn't take the strain of anything else...

Was she drunk, perhaps?

Did she even drink alcohol in the first place? She wasn't quite sure...

There was more movement at her side and she felt long fingers enclosing around one of her hands.

"Oh no..." she heard a second voice whimper, seemingly far from sharing the first stranger's relief. "You...you don't think...!"

"Carrie?" the first voice called rather loudly, the hand upon her forehead reaching to slap her gently against the cheek. "Carrie, it's me, it's Charlie, can you hear me?"

Who in Merlin's name was Charlie?

In fact...who in Merlin's name was Merlin?

"This is all your bloody fault!" the second voice complained somewhat weakly. "If...if you hadn't have decided to leave her on her own..."

"Calm down."

"HOW CAN I CALM DOWN? LOOK AT HER!"

"Shhhh! Keep your voice down! We've had enough run-ins with the Dousers for one day, thank you very much! Let's not panic...let's just see..."

Confusion mounting, Carrie lay stock still as she felt a careful thumb reach to gently pull open one of her eyelids.

A man's face framed by long, messy ginger hair and squinting brown eyes was peering down at her, his breath still warm upon her face. He had a good few days' worth of stubble upon his chin and a dark bruise upon one cheek.

The stranger, or Charlie as he had said a moment earlier, leant even closer until they were very nearly rubbing noses. A deep, pained frown creased his brow and he drew in a deep breath before he murmured:

"You bastards."

"What? What is it?" the other voice asked anxiously, and Carrie felt the grip upon her hand tighten to the point of being painful. "What's wrong?"

"I...I think...I think she might've..."

"What? Don't...don't say..."

"Her eyes. You can tell from her eyes, they're glazed looking and her pupils are dilated..."

"No!" As the other voice became suddenly shrill in disbelief, Carrie blinked groggily and risked opening her other eye, just in time to see Charlie being shoved sideways, his pained face being replaced by one far more frantic and agitated, framed by a shock of white hair. "I don't believe you!" the new face declared fiercely, and Carrie stared with wide eyes as he reached to cup her face in his hands. "I don't believe you, you're wrong! You...you must be..."

Charlie reached to lay a firm hand upon his young companion's shoulder, expression terribly grim.

"Listen," he began, voice soft yet imploring. "I know...I know it's difficult but...but look at her, I'm so very, very sorry..."

"You're WRONG!" the boy cried, tears seeping in fast, furious cascades down his cheeks. "She...she knows me, she does! She does!"

"Let her go, eh?" Charlie suggested, grip upon the boy's shoulder tightening. "You'll give her a fright, clutching her like that."

Carrie supposed she ought agree with this statement, and yet her mind was still much too bleary for true fright. She simply continued to stare up at them as the boy gave his head a furious shake before leaning down towards her, expression pleading.

"You know me, don't you Carrie?" he insisted, a whimpered plea. "You know who I am, I know you do. What's my name? Tell me what my name is, you can do that, can't you?"

Carrie stared up at him, taking in the dark, imploring eyes, cheeks pink from his sudden tears and his snow white hair...

"C'mon, don't do this to her," Charlie mumbled rather uncomfortably. "It isn't fair, she's confused enough already..."

"SHE KNOWS ME!" the boy cried, eyes darting sideways just long enough to offer his companion a defiant scowl. "I know she does!"

"But..." Charlie began somewhat half-heartedly, only for the boy to turn back to Carrie, expression determined.

"Look, Carrie," he whispered as she continued to watch him in motionless silence. "Look...you remember, don't you? It's me, look..." He screwed his face up for a moment and Carrie was just beginning to think that she had never set eyes upon a stranger individual in all her years when his hair turned from snowy white to a vibrant shade of turquoise. "See!" he cried, hope apparently renewed afresh. "You know me now, don't you? You know what my name is!"

There was a long, hopeful silence.

Carrie simply stared.

After some minutes, as she watched his face slowly fall, Charlie gave him a firm tug away from her and out of the corner of her eye she watched the boy collapse against the red-head's side, shoulders slumped dejectedly.

"Uncle Charlie...how...how could they?"

"I know. I know..."

"F...first M...Mum and Dad and...and n...now this!"

"Deep breaths, now..."

"I...I don't think I can stand it anymore! I...I don't...I don't know what to do!"

"I know, but..."

"_Teddy Lupin._"

Both males froze. Slowly, their eyes widened and they both turned back to stare at the girl who was lying upon the ground.

It was Charlie who found his voice first, arms dropping to his sides as he took a few stunned steps towards her. Dropping down into a crouch he peered down at her, eyes growing steadily wider.

"What did you just say?" he managed to whisper, and Carrie paused, thoughtful for a long moment before she whispered:

"Teddy Lupin." she looked over Charlie's shoulder to where the boy in question stood, completely dumbfounded. "Your name is Teddy Lupin."

Teddy's shock began to give way to a wide, triumphant grin, but Charlie simply shook his head in disbelief.

"No...that can't be...she can't!" he breathed, only for Teddy to drop down into a crouch beside him, grinning from ear to ear.

"You heard her!"

"Yes but...but she can't know who you are, Ted, she's just been obliviated for Merlin's sake!" Charlie eyed the muggle curiously for another long moment before he asked: "How can you remember Teddy?"

Carrie wasn't quite sure what the answer to this question was, or indeed what it meant in the first place. She wasn't given much of a chance to answer, however, for Teddy had leant forward towards her again.

"Carrie look!" he said excitedly. "Look, who's this?" He scrunched up his face again and Carrie watched dimly as his features altered, his hair shortening and changing colour...

The muggle stared up at the new, expectant face, deliberating for a long enough moment that the face fell ever so slightly, only to sudden brighten when she murmured hoarsely:

"Remus."

"Sweet Merlin!" Charlie breathed in wonder, yet again shaking his head before demanding: "Do another one! Do another face! Look, Carrie, do you know who this is?"

Despite her fatigue, Carrie felt a vague urge to snigger when Teddy's face changed again to a different gender entirely and she found herself observing:

"That's Dora."

Dora's face positively beamed, only to frown a little as she asked:

"But...but you don't remember Charlie? You've not seen Charlie before?"

Carrie's eyes drifted closed, heard still swimming.

_No more questions...please..._

"Who's this? Look Carrie, tell me who I am this time!"

The muggle reluctantly opened one eye and found herself staring up at another man's face.

"Do you know me now?" her father's face asked, and she stiffly turned her head away from the stranger and mumbled:

"I've never seen you before in my life."

"Oh Merlin..." Charlie muttered, reaching to tug in confusion at the hair at the back of his neck. "This makes no sense...how could she remember Remus but not know her own father? I mean...either the spell worked and she forgot everything...which she didn't...or it didn't work, in which case she should recognise all of us. How...how can she only remember you and your parents? How is that even possible? I've never heard of such a thing!"

At the sudden sound of movement behind them, both wizards sprung to their feet, wands raised as their eyes darted around searchingly. When they failed to spot anybody, Charlie hurried turned back to the sprawled muggle, dropping into a crouch.

"We need to get her back to Headquarters." Carrie vaguely heard him murmur as the pounding of her head seemed to worsen. "It isn't safe here."

She felt the wizard reach to slide careful arms underneath her and was aware of more murmured talk as she was lifted up from the ground. The movement was dizzying and she failed to let out a groan of protest. She didn't want to move, it was making the blackness creep in from the corners of her mind...she felt sick...faint...nothing...

When she came to again, she found herself upon a rather lumpy mattress, a duvet tucked tightly up to her chin...there was warm breath upon her face again, it smelt like...chocolate...there was a gentle weight upon her chest...

There were whispering voices, a man and a woman who were clearly attempting not to wake her.

"It's utterly remarkable!"

"That's what I was telling Ron and Hermione, they couldn't believe it..."

"You don't think...perhaps Remus or Tonks..."

"No. No, they couldn't have done, there's no such thing as an anti-obliviation charm. If there was we wouldn't be in this mess in the first place. Besides, she's definitely been obliviated, she's forgotten other things."

"Goodness...it's a miracle!"

"In a manner of speaking, Molly dear, but on the other hand, her family..."

"Those poor brothers of hers! What are we to do with them?"

"They're perfectly safe and happy for the time being, but in the long run...Merlin knows."

Carrie was vaguely aware of footsteps upon creaking wooden floorboards before an elderly woman's voice observed:

"Here she is then, soon to be the most famous muggle since St. George who slew the dragon. They're already babbling mindlessly about it down in the kitchen, your sons have dubbed her The Girl Who Remembers! Fascinating..."

"It certainly is, Minerva."

"Of course we mustn't let word get out, not yet."

"Of course not."

"We don't want to provoke the Dousers into coming after the poor girl, after all."

"That's right. You'll have a word with George, won't you Arthur dear? He seems to think we should shout it from the rooftops, rub the Dousers noses in it, give the other muggles hope!"

"I shouldn't worry, Molly. He wouldn't dream of it really."

"I should certainly hope not! Speaking of young people, how is young Ted doing?"

"Hasn't moved a muscle since they got back, bless him. I'm beginning to think there's a permanent sticking charm involved somewhere."

Carrie heard the trio give a collective sigh.

"He's coped terribly well." the first woman observed, and the elderly woman let out a soft_ hmph._

"Of course he has." she said brusquely. "If the last couple of decades have taught me anything it's that we in the Order breed little soldiers, not children, and Remus and Tonks are no different! He's as stubborn as his mother and as stoic as his father and he has righteous fire in his belly like the best of us!" There was a long pause before she murmured: "Poor child."

"Let them sleep." the man's voice suggested quietly. "There's a lot for us to discuss about the Department of Mysteries."

As she listened to their footsteps fading away, the warm breath still tickling her cheek in a calming rhythmic fashion, Carrie dared to open her eyes.

Teddy was lying fast asleep upon the bed beside her, one arm draped across her, her disarrayed hair in his face.

Carrie concentrated on staying very still, determined not to wake him as she returned her gaze to the ceiling. Her head felt clearer now, the throbbing had worn off and had left behind only mild confusion.

Somebody had Obliviated her, she recalled...

Except she wasn't supposed to recall...she wasn't supposed to know, wasn't supposed to have the faintest idea...

The Girl Who Remembers...

Sweet Merlin...!

And yet there were gaps...blank spots...

Carrie attempted to cast her mind back to her earliest memory, back before the Lupins, back before pet owls and magic, before summer days with wooly hats...

But it did nothing but make her head sore. She could remember as if it were yesterday, climbing a tree in a garden and looking over a fence to spot Teddy sat under a tree, reading a book...but she couldn't remember what she had been doing there...where she went when she wasn't with the Lupins, where she lived, who her family were...

Because she had a family, surely? Surely she had parents...perhaps a brother or a sister...

Oh Merlin...

She squeezed her eyes shut, frowning deeply. There was something else, she realised, something important...very important...

Something she needed to do...

But what was it?

She strained to try and remember, but her mind was a blank, and as the minutes ticked by she found herself feeling increasingly frustrated...agitated...

Merlin...how was she to cope with the world when it was all such a muddle?

She could feel tears beginning to squeeze their way out of the corners of her eyes and she gave a despairing sniff, carefully extracting one arm from Teddy's grasp so that she could swipe a sleeve at them. The movement made Teddy stir in his sleep and when she struggled to suppress a quiet sob the young wizard's eyes opened drowsily. Shuffling so that he could prop himself up upon an elbow, Teddy peered down at her, blinking the sleep from his eyes.

Carrie stared up at him as the tears continued to stream down her cheeks. It was comforting, she found, to stare at Teddy. He had his mother's dark, twinkling eyes, so dark that they were almost black and their gaze was steady and reassuring, Carrie felt instantly calmer. Despite her tears, his lips curved into a gentle smile. When she had been younger Carrie recalled, delighting that she could do such a thing, she had often been amused to see Teddy and Remus smiling, for stood side by side their expressions looked nigh on identical. And yet Teddy's smile was undoubtedly unique to Teddy, for where Remus concealed age-old Marauder-esque tenancies that made Carrie snigger, Teddy betrayed a beautiful zest for life that she both adored and admired. She had long suspected that it was uncontrollably infectious. She certainly hoped so, just then.

Teddy reached to rest a warm palm to her cheek as he leant down towards her.

"Don't cry." he whispered, wiping away a stray tear with his thumb, and before she could whimper any despairing complaints he leaned forward, pausing to cast a searching look across her face, before pressing a kiss to her cheek, catching a salty tear upon his lips. "Please don't cry." he said again as he carefully kissed away tear after tear.

"Ted...I...I can't remember so many things...there's...there's so much...blank..." Carrie reached to throw her arms around his neck, her hold desperately tight. "There's...there's so much missing, it's like...like my thoughts are shattered!"

Teddy settled back upon the bed, wrapping an arm around her waist so that he could cradle her carefully against his side, leaving her to bury her face in his chest.

"I'll let you in on a secret that Dad told me, just after we first arrived here and the Order started rescuing muggles." he told her, gaze upon the ceiling, "The Order of the Phoenix is full of broken and damaged people. There's not a person here who hasn't woken up one morning and wanted to give up fighting or give up on themselves after a good look in the mirror. Sometimes, back when Voldemort returned and Sirius had died, Dad said he felt so alone in the world that it was almost as though he wasn't even part of it. He said the fighting had cost him all of the people he cared about and it left him so broken sometimes he'd not even want to get out of bed in the morning. And Mum...Mum spent the best part of a year so depressed that she had a falling out with her parents, because they were so concerned they thought she was in desperate need of medication from Mungo's! She couldn't even morph, she didn't ever smile...can you imagine that? Mum not smiling? Who else? Fleur! She used to periodically burst into tears at the dinner table each evening for about a month! Hestia stopped coming to meetings for over a fortnight because she simply couldn't bear to face world and a meeting wasn't complete until Deadalus Diggle had announced that they were all doomed! The whole lot of them have been battered, bruised, hospitalized, you name it they've suffered it! And yet Dad says they had a rule that kept them on the straight and narrow, no matter what got thrown at them."

"What rule?" Carrie sniffed, voice muffled by his jumper, and to her surprise Teddy chuckled.

"I suppose it's more of a reminder, really." he mused. "Something to remember when you hit rock bottom. It's a line from a song Mum heard on the wireless the night after Sirius died and everybody was in tatters." His grip upon her tightened a little and he paused to clear his throat as if about to make the most solemn of vows. "_Let the monsters see you smile_." he quoted, each word precisely pronounced. "_Let them see you smiling_."

And Carrie drew back from the refuge of his jumper to offer him a watery smile of her own.

"Maybe I won't smile," the muggle said as he reached to wipe away one last tear. "Maybe they'll see me laughing."

Teddy beamed.

"Maybe we'll laugh in their faces." he told her as she beamed too. "We'll laugh at them together because they can't take me away from you."

Carrie spent the remainder of that day listening to Teddy babble mindlessly about everything and anything he could recall about her family, her childhood and her friends. She tried her best to absorb every word, every little detail like a sponge, and yet it all felt strange and unnatural as if she were learning a role for a play or revising a fictional character from a novel at school. It was her life...and yet it really didn't seem like her life at all, Teddy provided her with as many facts as he could and yet she had no true feelings or emotions attached to them, they didn't feel real. She had been born in a town called Tillbury, where she had lived with her parents and her two older brothers in a flat, she had attended primary school there too, where she had made many friends who would remain nameless because Teddy didn't know precisely who they were. She had moved to Eddington at the age of ten, not long before her eleventh birthday, where she had attended Oakhurst Manor School followed by Goodwin College to study her A Levels, which was what she was midway through doing now. Her brothers Thomas and Timothy were University students and she missed them when they were not at home because they were generally noisy and cheerful boys and it was impossible to feel lonely whilst they were in the house...

Carrie wondered how she could continue to miss two siblings who she had no recollection of whatsoever, how she could study subjects that she did not recall selecting at a college that she didn't know existed, how she could look fondly back at her days at Oakhurst Manor when she could remember little about them save attending Summer School there with Teddy after her first year.

It was all terribly, terribly confusing, having your own life feel so alien and detached.

Teddy's monologues and accounts seemed to last forever and yet there was so many areas of her memory left blank or confused. It was surprising, she thought, just how much there was to know about seventeen years of life.

Then there were a few aspects of the magical world that seemed to have slipped away, too. Names of Order members that she couldn't quite place, which child was a Potter and which was a Weasley, how long had it been since the Phoenix Day Parade and the start of all the trouble...

And then there was that one crucial thing that she needed to remember to do...

It was her inability to recall this one last thing that frustrated and troubled Carrie the most, and she repeatedly told Teddy so, not reassured in the slightest when he simply reached to give her hand a squeeze and told her not to fret about it.

By the time the following day had arrived, Carrie had managed to do an awful lot of fretting. She couldn't seem to shake of a distinct feeling of unease, no matter how cheerful and high-spirited those around her were. Whilst the Order of the Phoenix had been quite grim and disheartened since the brutal attack upon Remus and Dora at St. Mungo's, it's members appeared to have received a major morale boost after Carrie's miraculous feat of resistance at Queenswood. Everybody seemed to be smiling all the time, especially at Carrie, but the muggle struggled to remain cheerful.

By evening she was feeling distinctly anxious...frightened even, and the most frightening thing was she had absolutely no idea why she felt that way...

It was precisely 6pm, as she and Teddy were sat around the dinner table with assorted members of the Order and the Potter-Weasley brood that Carrie discovered precisely why.

The adults had been midway through a jolly recollection of Charlie Weasley's last birthday, owing the the fact that it would soon be time to celebrate once again, whilst James Potter had been squabbling with his cousin Dominique over the gravy boat, entirely ignoring his mother's attempts to restore some semblance of order. Carrie had just opened her mouth to politely ask Arthur Weasley to pass her the bowl of peas when there came an almighty, booming crashing sound from above them that made the entire kitchen tremble.

Conversations up and down the table came to an abrupt halt, Lily Potter sloshed orange juice into her lap with an audible little shriek and all eyes instantly looked searching up towards the ceiling.

"What was that, Mummy?" Louis Weasley whispered urgently, reaching to tug upon his mother's sleeve, only for Fleur to snap:

"Hush, Louis!"

In the ensuing silence, Carrie reached under the table to grasp hold of Teddy by the hand, and together they squinted upwards. The Order held a collective breath, and after nearly two minutes a few of the children began to fidget impatiently and a couple of the adults dared to look back down towards their plates...

BANG!

The kitchen's inhabitants all gave a jump as Victoire failed to suppress a small scream.

Within the blink of an eye, Ron and Charlie had leapt to their feet.

"Nobody move a..." Ron began, only for another tremor to strike, this time so forceful that it jolted cutlery and glasses across the table, some falling to the floor with a crash. The two Weasley brothers turned and bolted up the basement staircase, leaving the others to glance around at each other in panic.

Lily had started to sob into Albus' shoulder, though the middle Potter child seemed oblivious to his sister's distress because he was much too busy staring at his mother with wide, terrified eyes.

"Teddy..." Carrie began, voice an octave or two higher than usual. "I..."

BANG!

As a fresh boom rang in their ears, knocking over an ancient looking vase that had been left to stand beside the sink, Teddy reached to fling his arms around Carrie, his jaw clenched against a flinch.

"Don't panic, Sweetheart. It's alright..."

It was at that moment that there came the sound of thundering footsteps upon the stairs as Ron and Charlie bolted back down into the kitchen, their faces white as ghosts as they stumbled to a halt, both breathless from their sudden panic.

"Dousers..." Charlie managed to breath as he reached to grasp hold of the back of Carrie's chair to steady himself.

"Out in the square..." Ron added, his gaze fixated upon Hermione as the witch in question reached to put an arm around each of their two children.

"Loads of them..."

"Whole bloody department..."

"Yeah...Ron's right, it probably is..."

There was a pause as Ron swallowed a lump in his throat before he informed the horrified gathering:

"They've found us. They're breaking in."


	17. Little Soldiers

_Note: This chapter is dedicated to **Luna Nightshade**, because I've just noticed that you have added several of my stories to your community, **Legendary Fics**! What a wonderfully flattering title that is, thank you very much! _

_So, I am off on holiday tomorrow morning and I will not be back until Friday. I am planning on doing some writing whilst I am away, so with any luck there will be some updates posted when I get back!_

_Thank you to everybody who took time to vote in the poll to name the next fic, and also thank you for not being too appalled by my false update! _

_**Meet the Animagus** was the most popular title and will be the name of the next 'fic in this series. However, it beat Meet the Malfoys by such a tiny margin that I will endeavor to either include the Malfoys in the story in some way, OR simply use the runner up to name a later story. Right now I have no idea what the plot of the next story will be about...but with any luck I will soon have something figured out! (I imagine it might have something to do with an Animagus...though I can't possibly fathom why...!) Again, thank you for voting in such a speedy manner and in such great numbers! I was rather impressed by how quickly that bar chart started to grow! _

_Anyway, back to this current story which should be over in about...3 chapters! I hope that you enjoy this chapter as much as the previous ones, and thank you in advance to anybody who is kind enough to leave me a review!_

_Happy reading, everybody! XD_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter._

**17: Little Soldiers**

"Upstairs now, that's it, hurry up Rose dear..."

As she, Teddy and the rest of his cousins were herded out of the kitchen and up the stairs by the assembled Order members, a sobbing Lily bundled precariously under her Uncle George's arm, Carrie Winters' heart was pounding so relentlessly that she was pretty sure it might burst from her ribcage at any moment.

They reached the first floor landing just in time for Bill, who had darted ahead of them the moment that the terrible news of the attack had sunk in, to appear in the drawing room doorway.

"They've cut us off from the Floo Network." Carrie heard him quietly inform Charlie and Ron who had been leading the way, and Ron muttered:

"Bloody hell..."

"Shut up!" Charlie snapped. "Don't...don't panic, it'll only scare the children!" Turning back to face the mass of anxious faces he clapped his hands together in an admirably business-like fashion and announced: "Alright then, keep moving! Lead the way, Al, that's a good boy, up to Hestia's room! It's alright, Uncle George is going with you!"

As she and Teddy paused upon the landing so that they could hurry the youngsters along, Ginny came to stand beside her three brothers, expression grim.

"How did they find us?" she wondered in an undertone, and as the last of the adults too came to pause upon the landing, exchanging dark looks, Arthur murmured:

"I don't know..."

"They've known for a while, I'd wager." Ron told them. "There's so many of them out there...they've been planning."

"Oh Merlin..." Molly breathed, reaching to put a hand to her mouth.

"But...but how...?" Fleur asked, as if she couldn't quite believe it, and Hermione muttered:

"I always said we needed more protective spells..."

"Remus and I added as many as we could think of when we arrived! We should be safe..."

"Well it doesn't bloody sound like it, does it? They're breaking through those wards like they're not even there!"

"I still don't know how it could happen..."

"It was Remus."

At Carrie's sudden interruption of their anxious debate, the surrounding witches and wizards fell silent. As they all turned to stare at her in surprise they failed to flinch as another tremor shook the house.

Carrie felt as shocked by her revelation as they were, it had slipped from her tongue, she hadn't even thought about it...

And that was when she suddenly remembered, and she instantly felt the full force of failure strike her like a bludger to the stomach.

"It...it was Remus." she said again, voice not much more than a shameful whisper. "I...they had him at Queenswood...they...at Kraft's cottage! I...I saw him through the window!" She paused to stifle a despairing sob into her sleeve before admitting: "They were asking him for the location of Headquarters and...and the details of the protective charms placed upon it. He...he didn't want to tell them, he...he wouldn't but...but..." she trailed off with a small sob, slumped against Teddy's side, though the young wizard was frozen, staring at her intently. "They were threatening Dora!" she sobbed, eyes upon her feet at the continuously staring eyes. "A...and she...she's in a bad way! They...they were threatening such...such horrible things and...and Remus saw me at the window so...so he told them everything! He...he thought I was going to...to warn you all! So...so you could escape!"

There was a long pause, drenched in a painful mess of shock and despair before Molly Weasley reached to pat the muggle upon the arm and, in an oddly calm voice as if Carrie had just informed her that she had burnt breakfast, murmured:

"Never mind, Carrie dear. It's not your fault. Now go on, upstairs, both of you!"

As they stumbled on up the stairs and turned to head up another, glancing over the bannister to see the adults begin hurriedly mumbling amongst themselves, no doubt attempting to form some sort of plan, Carrie felt Teddy's fingertips graze the small of her back as he guided her up the steps.

"Grandma Molly's right." the youngest Lupin assured her as another tremor shook the house, cause the decaying plaster upon the ceiling above them to crumble a little, sending a cloud of pale dust showering down upon their heads. Once he had stifled a cough into his sleeve, speeding their pace a little the wizard murmured: "This isn't your fault, not at all. You do know that, don't you?"

"Mm." Carrie mumbled as they turned to hurry up yet another staircase, only for his hand to slide from her back, instead reaching to grab hold of her elbow, pulling her to an abrupt halt.

Carrie turned to offer him a wide-eyed stare, his sudden lack of urgency bewildering to her. Her breathing had grown ragged from the sudden panic and rushed movement, the remnants of her interrupted dinner churning uncomfortably in her stomach until she thought she might vomit upon the floorboards.

And yet Teddy appeared to be frighteningly calm. Despite the Dousers being upon their doorstep, despite the danger that they had been plunged into, despite the painful news of his parents, of the knowledge of interrogation, of the distinct possibility of things too appalling to bring to mind without the dreaded crippling sickness that comes of loved ones' suffering, despite it all, Teddy Lupin was utterly unshaken. Focused. Stoic...

The son of two members of the Order of the Phoenix.

A little soldier.

The tears would come later, Carrie was certain, they would come in floods and sobs with shattered nerves, just as they had done after the terrible incident at St. Mungo's...

But not now. Not yet. Because now wasn't the time, and the little soldier knew it.

Carrie knew it too. She had known it as soon as she'd felt his hand upon her elbow, as soon as he had pulled her to a stop. Now was not the time for guilt or shame or tears or anything of the sort. That would come later. Now now. Not yet. The muggle sucked in a deep breath, burying the despairing urges deep inside her until they were sufficiently smothered. It was difficult, very difficult, but despite it all Carrie Winters told herself not to be shaken. To be focused. To be stoic...

Be the daughter of two members of the Order of the Phoenix.

Be a little soldier.

"It's not your fault." Teddy said again, dark eyes upon her piercing, and this time she nodded and told him:

"I know it isn't. It's Ambrose Kraft and the Dousers' fault, not anybody else. Come on, let's get upstairs..." She turned to make her way purposefully up the final few stairs, only for his grip upon her elbow to tighten, free hand reaching for her hand so that he could turn her back to face him again. Before she could say a word, he released her just long enough to instead wrap his arms tightly around her waist, closing the gap between them so convincingly that she found herself pressed back against the elaborately carved bannister. As another blow struck the waning protective wards upon the house, the bricks and mortar giving another shudder, Carrie barely noticed the fresh plaster dust raining down upon them as he pressed his lips to her own. Carrie felt her heart give a small jolt in her chest as she struggled to free her arms from between them, throwing them around his neck as she stifled a small gasp against his mouth.

Their kisses had always been so careful and gentle before now, slow and just a little cautious as if they ought be utterly perfect and couldn't be rushed. And yet suddenly their unspoken rules appeared to have been forgotten, his hand that would meticulously smooth her hair favoured tangled fingers and fistfuls of disarrayed locks. Their kisses grew clumsy, rushed and Carrie could hear her pulse thudding in her ears as her grip upon his neck tightened to something akin to a stranglehold in order not to stumble further back against the bannister. She felt his teeth graze her bottom lip and her fingers grasped at his hair in surprise, his winced a little at the sudden attack upon his scalp, leaving her to blush scarlet in embarrassment, which she quickly forgot because she became acutely aware of his tongue venturing carefully into her mouth.

It wasn't the time for such desperate fumbling and a whirlwind affections, Carrie mused vaguely as she tangled her fingers deeper into Teddy's hair, indeed it was probably a waste of adrenaline, a waste of time...

And yet she felt no inclination to push away from him because then their moment together would be lost, and Merlin knew what else might be lost in the coming hours, they might even lose one another again and she'd be glad of their foolish little aside to the panic because it would make for a very good memory.

And memories were important. They were the only things that could be untouchable.

She wanted to remember such desperate love, such blazing defiance of the world around them that it would scorch anybody who tried to take it away from her.

At length, he drew back from her, gaze flickering towards his shoes for a moment, face flushed pink before he glanced back up at her again, expression suddenly sheepish.

"Sorry..." he mumbled, reaching to flatten her wayward hair with only marginal success. "Silly of me, I know, what with everything, but... I got a bit carried away..."

Carrie sniggered, hastily loosening her death-hold upon his neck. She paused to run her tongue somewhat experimentally across her bottom lip, marveling at the dull ache that surfaced when she finally offered him a broad smile.

"Sorry..." he mumbled again, pursing his own lips together as he studied her thoughtfully for a moment, and then he leant forward again, just as another rumble struck the house, brushing a soft kiss to her lips. "Don't worry, though." he added as he grabbed hold of her by the hand and turned hurriedly to lead the way on up the stairs. "All the best Order members do it."

"They do?"

"Oh yes!"

"Like...like who?"

"Mum and Dad hold the record for the most inappropriate moment to _take a break_, as Mum calls it. I don't know a whole lot about it, but it was during the Battle of Hogwarts and it had something to do with hiding from Bellatrix and a horde of Death Eaters in a broom cupboard..."

"In a broom cupboard?"

"Mm...Mum had been hexed and needed a moment to recover, although I'm told Bellatrix was on the other side of the castle by the time they decided it was safe to come out of hiding."

Carrie giggled.

"What so...so in the middle of the battle they just...hid in a broom cupboard and...?"

"Snogged one another senseless, Mum says. Uncle George claimed they were doing a whole lot more than snogging, but then Mum said nobody in their right mind would be that stupid because there's nothing more undignified than spending your final few moments of life getting Avada Kedavra'ed with your knickers round your ankles." The young wizard's nose wrinkled distastefully as he muttered: "She's bloody disgraceful, my mum."

Carrie was about to snigger again when suddenly a particularly forceful blow struck the house and she found herself thrown off balance, resorting to flinging herself sideways to grab hold of the bannister rather than fall flat on her face.

"Careful, Carrie!" George's voice announced from the doorway ahead of them as he strode purposefully out of Hestia's room. "It's not time for bumps and bruises quite yet, you know! Teddy, come up here and keep an eye on the others, will you? Carrie and I have something important to do."

And with that, just as Carrie reached the top of the stairs she found herself being steered around and ushered back down the stairs again. She cast one last glance over her shoulder at Teddy as he disappeared into the attic room, before returning her gaze to her feet so as not to trip at George's brisk pace.

"Where are we going?" she asked as they reached the landing below and George ushered her towards the nearest bedroom door.

"There aren't enough of us, Carrie." George informed her grimly as he flung the door unceremoniously open and, once inside, headed for the dusty dressing table in the corner. "If the Dousers break in here...and believe me they will, it's going to be a blood bath. We don't stand a chance."

Carrie felt her stomach twist uncomfortably at this frank piece of information and she leant back against the door frame, swallowing hard.

"What are we to do?" she asked weakly, and she watched in bemusement as the remaining Weasley twin reached to pull out the stool before the little table, reaching for his wand with the other. To the muggle's surprise, he turned to offer her a distinctly mischievous grin.

"We're going to have to hope that the Wizarding community cares for us as much as we do for them." he announced, and with that he patted the stool and told her: "Come and sit down."

Entirely unenlightened, Carrie shuffled across the room and obediently sat down upon the stool.

George had turned his attention to the large wireless that had been set down upon the dressing table in front of them, and with a sharp tap of his wand, it crackled into life. The wizard fiddled with the various buttons upon the contraption, tuning in and out programmes, a dull sounding news report and a warbling witch accompanied by a screechy violin.

"Fred, Lee and I had this all worked out years ago," he told the muggle as he paused to frown at the box, tapping it sharply upon the top with his wand again, which only seemed to make it crackle louder than ever. "We were trying to find a secure way to set up Potterwatch, only when you do it this way it's easily traceable so we abandoned it straight away." he paused in his fiddling to offer the silent Carrie a broad grin. "But we needn't give a toss about that anymore, had we? Because the Dousers already know we're here. We should have just enough time before they have us cut off."

He went back to his fiddling and muttering and tapping for a moment before Carrie admitted:

"I don't understand. What are we doing?"

George paused again, eyes glinting.

"We're going to hijack the airwaves!" he announced rather grandly. "Send out a call to arms!"

Carrie felt a distinct bubble of hope swell in her chest and she fidgeted excitedly upon her seat, only to wonder:

"What...what does that have to do with me?"

"I'm going to do the hijacking." George said as he turned his attention back to the wireless, giving it another hefty tap with his wand, leaving it to give a visible jolt. "And you're going to do the calling."

Carrie felt instantly nervous.

"Why me?" she asked, voice not much more than a squeak, and George shot her a slightly bemused expression as if it were all terribly obvious as he said:

"Because you're the symbol of what we're all fighting for."

Carrie spent the following ten minutes sat staring blankly at the wall, listening to the wireless' crackling hum and George's muttered spells and expletives, occasionally joined by a fist being slammed down atop the temperamental box. The muggle attempted to order her thoughts and decide upon what she was going to say to the Wizarding World...

But only too soon the muttering and crackling stopped and George whispered:

"It's ready."

And Carrie had absolutely no idea what she was going to say.

The muggle shifted round upon the stool to face the wireless, staring blankly at it and George smiled encouragingly and hissed:

"Just speak directly into the speaker, alright? Are you ready?"

He didn't wait for a response, and Carrie felt all thoughts drain from her mind as he gave the wireless one last tap and it let out a loud beep that rang in Carrie's ears...

Then silence.

Carrie Winters stared blankly at the speaker in front of her, the silence deafening, before glancing sideways at George, who nodded his head encouragingly.

Carrie leant forwards a little towards the speaker, hastily wetting her lips.

_Just say something_, she thought anxiously, and with that she drew in a deep, audible breath, and said:

"Um..."

_Ummm_, the wireless echoed loudly back at her, and Carrie gave a little jump, colour rising on her cheeks.

_Try again_, the voice inside her head demanded, and she drew in another deep breath, concentrating furiously.

"This is an emergency broadcast by the Order of the Phoenix." she stated clearly, each syllable carefully pronounced, just as Remus had spoken at the Phoenix Day Parade. She nodded to herself as she heard her voice echo back at her, and then she paused, swallowing the lump in her throat as she tried to think of what to say next. "My name is Carrie Winters, I'm sure some of you might remember me, I was at this year's Phoenix Day Parade, up on the stand with Mr. Lupin...I'm a muggle. I...I'm a muggle and I have some things to say about...about muggles and wizards." She wasn't really sure what it was that she meant to say, but sloughed on regardless, not daring to glance sideways at George, she closed her eyes and pretended she was back at the Krafts' graveside in Queenswood, talking to the dead whose opinions and responses were buried under the earth.

"My father once explained to me that...that there are lots of different groups that we can split people into, magical and muggle are only two of them and we don't just fit into one group. There are other, more important groups like...like family and friends or...or people with good and bad intentions. People who want to save us and people who want us to come to harm. And...and that's the thing about wizards and muggles...we can all fit into different groups and just because one wizard or one muggle is in a certain group, that doesn't mean they all are..." she trailed off, listening to the echo for a moment before adding: "And if we can all fit into different groups...well...well we're not really different from one another after all. We can all fit into the group that's called Human. And that's what we're fighting for, really. We're fighting to keep us all in that group, to keep us all human. So that we can love and laugh and cry...and _feel_, and not become blinded and emotionless...so we don't all end up like Ambrose Kraft and the other Dousers." Carrie leant forward a little until her lips were practically pressed against the speaker, as if hoping a few more people might just hear her as she announced: "The Order of the Phoenix is under attack. The Dousers have found us, we're trapped and outnumbered, we have sick people and children here with us...so...so if there's anybody out there listening to me, if you're out there and...and you're still human, if you are human enough to care for your protectors, just like they care so deeply for you...please help us. Please come and help us because...because we need _you_ now. We can't protect ourselves on our own." She paused again before remembering to add: "The Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix is at Number Twelve Grimmauld Place, London. There isn't much time, they're breaking in." And then, though she wasn't entirely sure why, she felt compelled to admit: "My real father didn't say a thing to me about muggles and wizards, he probably doesn't even know you exist. It was Remus who told me..." she pursed her lips together for a moment before musing: "I don't know if...if there are any radios in Azkaban...if...the prisoners ever hear the radio. Maybe...maybe the guards do. If you are listening...somebody at Azkaban, whoever you are...if you see my parents...if you see Remus and Dora Lupin...either of them, tell them that I love them."

_Tell them that I love them..._

Carrie listened solemnly to the echo before leaning to bury her face in her arms upon the table. As another shock made the room shake more violently than ever, George leant forward to give the wireless a sharp tap with his wand and it gave another beep before falling silent.

"Now what?" Carrie mumbled into the refuge of her arms, and the red-haired wizard reached to rake a resigned hand through his hair as he mumbled:

"Now we hope for the best."

And as the two Order members remained stock still beside the now silent wireless, up and down the country witches and wizards everywhere joined them in their silence, each sitting or standing beside their wirelesses, staring in shock. Housewitches midway through baking cauldron cakes, Ministry employees on coffee breaks, parents pausing in their bouncing of babies up and down upon their knees, teenagers stopped dead at playing their siblings at wizards' chess, shelf stacking shop owners, shelf browsing shop customers, apothecaries spoiling potions left simmering too long upon stoves, a company of Aurors huddled in a tent somewhere in a swampy area of the West Country, the current gatekeeper at Azkaban who was midway through sorting through the possessions of a recently incarcerated felon, whilst eating a meager dinner of cheese and pickle sandwiches...

They all stopped to stare at their wirelesses, barely noticing the return of their chosen listening material...

Carrie retreated back up towards the attic room, pausing on the stairs to peer over the bannister and watch George's descent to join the other adults, listening to the sounds of hurried footsteps moving this way and that, voices calling to one another from different rooms, talk of defensive spells and a whole host of things that Carrie had little understanding of.

"That's another ward broken!" Ron's voice bellowed from the ground floor, and Carrie shuddered because she understood this observation only too well.

Time was running out. She didn't care to imagine what would happen when it did.

It was at that moment that she spotted Hermione and Ginny making their way up the stairs, pausing to flatten themselves up against the wall to let George past them, witches and wizard exchanging silently grim looks before he hurried on down the stairs and they continued upwards.

When they reached the final staircase upon which Carrie was stood, she turned to stare down at them as they approached, their footsteps creaking upon the wood. Each witch carried a familiar looking silky mass tucked over one forearm. As they reached the landing, casting sideways glances at the muggle, they both reached to unfold an invisibility cloak before stepping into the room. Carrie shuffled after them.

The children were mostly clustered around Hestia's bed, Rose, Hugo and Dominique all perched upon the edge as Victoire stood staring expectantly at the door, a tight arm around her little brother Louis' shoulders. Teddy was sat upon a dusty wooden chair up against the right hand wall, a curled-up Lily balanced precariously upon his knees, wand gripped firmly in his free hand, tapping it almost impatiently against his leg. James was stood beside him, looking uncharacteristically serious. The eldest Potter child's eyes glanced up at his approaching mother and aunt, before looking searchingly around for a moment until his gaze came to rest upon the small figure stood, nose pressed to the dirty glass of the little attic window.

"Al, come away from the window!" James snapped, striding briskly over towards his brother, who gave a little jump backwards at the sound of his name. Carrie watched as Albus shuffled round to peer up at his brother, face pale in fright and James hastily reached to pull the moth-eaten curtains across the window.

"You don't need to look out there." he muttered, sounding rather agitated at the notion, and Albus simply watched him, shoulders slumped. James turned back to him and, to Carrie's mild surprise, enveloped the younger boy in his arms, grip so tight that Albus was very nearly lifted right off his feet. "It's alright, Al." the big brother murmured. "We don't need to be frightened. The Dousers won't get this far, and even if they do, Teddy's going to kick their arses!"

Carrie glanced to see what Teddy thought of this assessment of coming events, but the metamorphmagus merely adjusted his grip upon Lily with the smallest of frowns, only for the little girl to catch sight of her mother and scramble off of Teddy's lap and onto her feet.

"Mummy!"

"It's alright, Lils," Ginny announced as her daughter skidded to a halt and threw her arms around her, burying her face in the front of the witch's robes. "We're all going to play a little game!"

"Ooh!" Hestia exclaimed excitedly as the other children slid off the bed and gathered around Ginny and Hermione. "Good! I like a good little game, I do!"

"It's a competition!" Hermione elaborated enthusiastically as James led Albus forward to join the others. "Between all of you children and Hestia!"

Teddy sucked in an exaggerated breath as he rose to his feet, still gripping hold of his wand.

"How exciting!" he cried, grinning broadly, though as she watched him Carrie was sure that the cheer did not quite reach his dark eyes. "You better watch out, guys, Hestia is very competitive! Isn't that right, Hestia?"

"Absolutely!" Hestia agreed, causing Rose to snigger. "I don't do losing, me!"

"Exactly!" Ginny said, cracking a grin of her own. "She's about as bad as your Auntie Dora...you should see the two of them playing at chess...goodness! Can you even imagine such a thing?"

"That's why Auntie Dora likes to see Hestia lose so much." Hermione explained as Louis fidgeted excitedly under Victoire's arm. "I bet if you win, she'll buy the whole lot of you ice cream just as soon and she and Uncle Remus come back home!"

"I think if you win convincingly enough, she might just take you to Quidditch afterwards, too." Teddy added, and the children immediately began to whisper excitedly to one another.

"Shhh!" Ginny said as Hermione went to stand beside Hestia's bed, giving the invisibility cloak a little shake. "If you're going to win, you'll all have to be quiet as mice! Whoever makes a sound first loses!" With that, Ginny led the way over to the small wardrobe beside the window and, pulling it open, announced: "Quickly then! Everybody inside!"

The children bounded across the room and set about huddling themselves into the cramped space that Carrie could only assume was magically enlarged in some way, for it was not until only Victoire was left outside that Louis exclaimed:

"There's no more room!"

"Never mind," Teddy said as he walked over, pausing at the bedside to reach to pick up Hestia's wand. "Victoire's useless at staying quiet, aren't you, Vic? You'd only lose if she was to join in!"

As Hermione threw the first cloak over Hestia, the wounded Order member instantly disappearing from sight, Teddy pressed the borrowed wand into his cousin's hand.

Victoire stared down at the offered object for a long moment, visibly paling.

"Underage magic doesn't matter anymore, Vic." Teddy pointed out softly, and the eldest Weasley child bit her lip in consideration for a long moment, before looking up at him, expression silently pleading.

"Take the wand, Victoire." Teddy insisted, and with a little shudder, her fingers finally enclosed around the wooden handle. She gave a determined little nod, and he smiled faintly as he explained: "No point giving it to Carrie, she'll only try and poke a Douser in the eye with it or something stupid like that."

Victoire glanced over his shoulder at the muggle and managed a shaky snigger as Ginny finished arranging the second invisibility cloak over the children in the cupboard, only for a fresh tremor to strike the house, eliciting a small shriek of alarm from one of the girls.

"Shhhh! We'll lose the game!" Hugo complained loudly, only for the other children to hiss at him to be quiet too.

Ginny carefully closed the cupboard door as Hermione finally turned away from the bed to call:

"Carrie come here so that I can Disillusion you."

Carrie obediently went to her in an odd state of calm. Seemingly it was difficult to stay on edge for such a prolonged period of time. She shivered as she felt the spell seep down over her, and as Ginny came to stand at Hermione's side the two witches exchanged a glance.

"Try not to move around too much." Ginny suggested. "If they're clever they'll spot the light shifting and it'll give you away." To Hermione, she asked: "All cloaked and Disillusioned, then?"

"Yes...for all the good it'll do." Hermione murmured grimly. "The Dousers aren't stupid, after all."

"It's better than nothing at all!" Ginny pointed out, sounding distinctly defensive, and Hermione managed a smile as she agreed:

"Yes, it is."

As Teddy and Victoire wandered almost reluctantly over, the two adults turned to regard them, expressions deadly serious.

"We're going to seal the door tight behind us." Ginny informed the little soldiers briskly. "Stay away from the door and stay away from the window all three of you, do you understand?

"Yes Auntie Ginny." Victoire and Teddy chorused, as Carrie managed a feeble nod, though she was sure nobody could see it.

"Don't let the children out of the cupboard and make sure they stay quiet."

"Yes Auntie Ginny."

"Stay quiet yourselves, too."

"Yes Auntie Ginny."

There was a sizable pause as the two adults exchanged another grim glance before Hermione instructed:

"Be careful and look after one another."

"Yes Auntie Hermione." the little soldiers murmured solemnly, and with that the two adults turned on their heels and strode out of the door, pulling it firmly shut behind them.

For a long moment, Carrie simply watched Teddy and Victoire stood side by stand, wands in hands as they listen to the muffled mutterings of incantations behind the door. After a moment the hallway outside fell silent and they were all left entirely alone.

Carrie's calm instantly evaporated on the spot and she felt quite overcome by terror.

She was not the only one.

Victoire shifted uneasily at Teddy's side before glancing nervously sideways at the tall boy stood beside her.

"Ted...?" the witch whispered as Teddy stared fixatedly upon the door, but before either of them could whisper another word there came an almighty crash, like none other that they had heard before and Carrie was forced to stifle a gasp into her sleeve, stumbling a little as the floor lurched underfoot.

Even from the top of the house, they could hear muffled shouting from below, and as a series of muffled little crashes reached their ears, Carrie watched tears begin to slowly seep from Victoire's eyes, slowly sliding their way down her beautifully terrified face.

"They're broken in, haven't they?" she whimpered, and Teddy glanced over his shoulder in the direction that he had last seen Carrie, gaze lingering upon the spot where she stood for a long moment before he turned back to stare at the door. He reached to take hold of Victoire by the hand, giving it a firm squeeze as he murmured:

"It sounds like it, yes."

Victoire considered this terrible turn of events for a long moment before admitting:

"I'm frightened."

And Teddy's lips twitched into a grim little smile and he muttered:

"Me too."

_Note: Off to cruise down a canal on a narrow boat for a few days...BRB! XD_


	18. Somewhere Safe

_Note: First of all, a note to myself: Do not under any circumstances lean too far to the right and drop this laptop into the canal. Don't do it. Just don't. _

_Anyway, back to you guys! A while ago somebody, I forget who and can't check because I have no Internet right now, suggested that I include more of McGonnogal in this story. So...your wish is my command! Sort of..._

_Secondly, this chapter didn't really turn out the way I planned it...and I don't really know why. I suppose you are all expecting some very dramatic battle sequences...I know, so was I! But of course Carrie and Teddy are naturally going to spend the battle hiding...so...I tried to make it dramatic in other ways. I hope you don't all get horribly disappointed...maybe I'll manage to avoid such anticlimaxes in the future! (Possibly in the new 'fic...which I have so far managed a vague plan for and about 3 lines of Chapter 1...not the epic progress I was planning on making, I know...It's going to rain tomorrow, so I might manage quite a bit more then.)_

_For some reason this also turned into some sort of exploration of Bill's family...with any luck that's vaguely interesting! _

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter._

**18: Somewhere Safe**

They stood stock still for what seemed like an age, the silence of their little stronghold punctured by the unmistakable sounds of battle down below. For a time, Carrie leant back against the wall, hugging her arms about herself and closing her eyes, attempting to picture happier times. She recalled standing at King's Cross station many years previously with Dora, waiting for Remus to return from Platform Nine and Three Quarters with Teddy who had been fresh off the train from his first year at Hogwarts. They had spoken whimsically of dueling and Dora had commented on Remus' capability of cursing somebody into oblivion. It was a phrase that witches and wizards seemed very keen on, curse into oblivion. Carrie had heard it used on so many occasions over the years by the Lupins, especially Dora, who seemed particularly fond of the casual threat. Carrie had always sniggered or laughed whenever she heard whimsical threats of domestic violence being handed out across the dinner table along with the salt pot or the bottle of tomato sauce.

And yet up until now, the muggle had never given much thought to the actual meaning.

Curse. Hurt. Damage. Pain.

Oblivion. Nothingness. Entirely lost to the world.

It was horrible. Absolutely horrible. Indeed, when she thought about it Carrie couldn't imagine why anybody would consider it a suitable joke or phrase to aim at a loved one.

It was probably going on right now, at long last more than just words, somewhere beneath Carrie's feet a horde of Dousers were hurling curses at the trapped Order members, hoping to strike one them into darkness, perhaps leave a scar or two along the way.

It made Carrie shudder.

The minutes ticked on and on, the furious fighting continuing to rage downstairs and Carrie attempted to ignore the distinct impression she had that it was growing slowly closer, as if the Order were in retreat.

She could have sworn that her heart had stopped dead when the sound of stumbling, uneven footsteps sounded upon the stairs coming towards them, and everybody jumped at the sound of something heavy falling against the door in front of them, making it shudder...

"Shhh, it's alright, sit...sit down..."

"I...I..."

"Shhhhh...I've got you, I've got you..."

Carrie heard a broken murmur of what she first thought was pained gibberish...

Until she realised it was French.

Victoire rushed to the door, reaching to bang a frantic fist against the wood as she attempted to pull it open.

"MUM! DAD!"

"Vic come away from the door!" Teddy hissed, rushing forward to grab hold of her by the elbow. "Don't shout, you'll scare the others..."

"OPEN THE DOOR!" Victoire demanded, rounding on him as tears flooded down her cheeks. "OPEN THE DOOR, TED, RIGHT NOW!"

"I can't open it, I don't know how!" Teddy snapped, dragging her roughly back a few steps. "Now stop it! I'm...I'm sure everything's just fine..."

"NO IT ISN'T!" the witch shrieked, reaching to grasp a feeble fistful of her hair in agitation. "M...Mum's...Mum's hurt..."

"Shh!" Teddy hissed, casting a worried look over his shoulder at the wardrobe in which the children were hiding. "Keep your voice down! There's nothing we can do, Vic, I'm sure your dad's taking good care of her, he's got everything under control..."

A small shriek sounded from the landing and Victoire was about to make for the door again, only for Teddy to fling his arms around her, holding her back.

"L...let go..."

"Vic, look at me..."

"N...no, let go..."

"Look at me."

"LET GO!"

"Victoire Weasley! LOOK AT ME!"

As Victoire finally froze, white-faced as she looked up into his ever so slightly watery, pleading eyes, Carrie found herself struggling to blink back tears of her own. The muggle turned her back on the pair, just in time to hear Teddy murmur:

"There's nothing we can do."

Victoire slumped forward, face buried in Teddy's chest and he was about to throw his arms around her when there came an almighty crackling sound that made the pair of them spin around to the source of the noise.

Carrie watched with wide eyes as an explosion of golden sparks shot past the small, dusty window in the back wall, and despite Ginny's warnings both she and the other two rushed to peer outside.

What Carrie saw when she glimpsed the cobbled street outside made her heart soar in elation.

An enormous, glittering phoenix made up of fiery orange and glistening gold sparks was swooping to and fro above the cobbles below, it's beak opening and closing as it's earsplitting shriek filled the air. Clustered underneath it, cheering and shouting at the high pitched battle-cry was a sprawling crowd of witches and wizards, their wands held skyward and their feet stomping upon the cobbles, the rhythm fast and fierce.

"Sweet Merlin!" Teddy breathed as Victoire reached to press a hand to her mouth, stifling a small squeak of surprise.

And Carrie watched as the phoenix exploded in a great shower of sparks, reaching to lay a disillusioned hand upon Teddy's arm as she whispered:

"They listened to me! Look at them, Teddy! Look, all those people..they...they actually listened to me!"

As Teddy let out a shout of triumphant laughter, hand groping around to lay atop of the muggle's, they watched the crowd swarm forward towards the wreckage that was the entrance to Number Twelve Grimmauld Place, and quite suddenly the bangs and crashes below them became more violent and frequent than ever...

And yet now it was like music to Carrie's ears. She felt a tremendous urge to dance around the room to it...

A sudden cry of pain drew their attention back to the attic room door, and Victoire's expression went from euphoric back to anguish within the blink of an eye. Despite Teddy's muttered warning she ran back to the door, banging her fist against it again.  
>"Daddy? What's going on?" she shouted, ear pressed anxiously to the wood.<p>

"Victoire for Merlin's sake stay away from the door!" Bill's voice demanded from out on the landing.

"Why? Are...are the Dousers out th..."

"I said stay away from the door!"

Victoire reluctantly shuffled backwards again, eyes downcast, and Carrie couldn't help but guess that staying away from the door at this particular moment in time had absolutely nothing to do with the Dousers...

Still disillusioned, the muggle crept forward and pressed an ear to the door.

Whenever she looked back upon that moment, Carrie always wondered quite what had possessed her to eavesdrop on the hallway beyond the door. She didn't like to think it curiosity, after all she knew full well that ignorance would have been far more soothing for her pounding heart. Perhaps it had been a desperate attempt to dispel the terrible feeling she had that despite their successful call to arms, all was not well with the Order of the Phoenix.

Whatever the reason had been, Carrie forever wished that it had never occurred to her and that she had remained on the other side of the room.

There was the sound of panicked, heavy breathing and the tearing of cloth.

"It's alright, I've got you, I'm here...let me just...that's it, that's it...the children are perfectly safe, aren't they? And that's the important thing, isn't it, eh? And...and you mustn't worry, Sweetheart, you mustn't because you're going to be just fine, I promise, I...Fleur? Fleur, Sweetheart try and keep your eyes open, won't you? Don't...don't fall asleep, remember what I said, alright? Try and stay awake...Fleur? Fleur!"

Carrie hastily backed away from the door, narrowly avoiding colliding with Teddy as the wizard stood, arms wrapped tightly around his sobbing cousin, her face buried in his shoulder.

"Don't go near the door, Carrie." the wizard murmured when he noticed the movement, but he was much too late.

Carrie retreated to a corner, sinking down upon the floor and burying her face in her arms.

Merlin...what if...what if Fleur were to die? What if she was already dead?

Carrie had first met Bill and Fleur Weasley, along with their three children not terribly long after she had met the Lupins, when they along with a horde of other relatives had descended upon the Lupin household for dinner, storytelling and in the adults' case a little too much wine. The muggle had not spoken much more than a mumbled greeting to the Veela's descendant at the time, indeed she had spoken very little to anybody save Teddy, Remus, Dora and Harry, and at first she had not been entirely sure she liked Fleur much at all. Having already concluded that young Victoire was much too beautiful for a girl her age, not to mention much too able to hold Teddy's undivided attention at the dinner table, Carrie then found that Fleur was yet more stunningly beautiful than her daughter and the muggle had felt rather intimidated by her bold and assertive nature. She had seemingly no problem whatsoever with expressing her opinions, to the point of being downright blunt and yet there was something unfathomably careful in her nature that Carrie could never quite put her finger on.

In an odd way, she was rather like Dora, and yet the two witches were at the same time like polar opposites, which was why Carrie supposed she found Dora's frankness easier to deal with. Dora's blunt observations had a habit of making Carrie laugh or smile. She was not the sort of person to take herself terribly seriously and consequently the majority of her observations came across as being light-hearted. Indeed, there seemed to be only a handful of things in life that Dora did take seriously; love, friendship, her job, money, the things that to Carrie's mind were important. One only had to glance at Fleur, however, to find that here was a witch who took herself and a great number of things around her very seriously indeed. There was never a smooth blonde hair upon her head out of place, she was forever dressed up, indeed Carrie doubted she had ever dressed down in her whole entire life. The bookcases at Shell Cottage, on the rare occasion that Carrie had been there, were stuffed full of an odd mixture of fashion magazines and hefty looking encyclopedia-esque volumes that the mere titles of made Carrie's head ache. Fleur kept an immaculate home, cooked elaborate banquet-like dinners for her guests and would always be ready to get out the best china.

In all honesty, Carrie had thought her to be a bit of a snob. She'd rather thought Dora thought the same and that Fleur was not terribly fond of Dora in return because in company they rarely spoke a word to one another, exchanging the occasional rather bland smile.

And yet it had soon become apparent that despite seemingly having nothing in common and despite having what appeared to be startlingly different views about what was truly important in life, Dora and Fleur really did admire one another. They never spoke an ill word about one another, not even when joking, and when parting they always seemed to hug one another more firmly than they did anybody else.

When asked by Carrie precisely what it was about one another that had caused such a unexpected bond, Remus had said that the two witches had a mutual understanding of the true nature of love that very few people shared, and anybody who did so deserved all the admiration in the world. The werewolf had failed to elaborate on what precisely the true nature of love was, and when prompted to do so he had laughed and admitted that he wasn't entirely sure what it was that they knew because he himself had never entirely understood it.

_It's quite beyond me_, he'd said,_ the best thing for me to do is to simply accept it, call it a miracle if I fancy and just be eternally glad._

For once in her life, Carrie had found that she had absolutely no idea what Remus had been talking about, and so she'd relayed his words to Dora to see if she could make some sense of them. Apparently Dora had known precisely what he was talking about, but had failed to explain it to Carrie straight away because she'd spent a good minute smiling to herself and fiddling with the thin band of gold upon her finger, and then she'd decided to make Remus a cup of tea, accompanied by a large slab of chocolate.

_Basically what he's saying_, she'd finally told Carrie having retreated from the sitting room, having presented her husband with a steaming mug and the golden wrapped confectionery, positively beaming, _is that he has absolutely bugger all idea why it is that I chose to marry him_.

_Well that should be obvious, shouldn't it?_ Carrie had asked, and Dora had shrugged and said:

_To me, maybe, but not to a whole lot of other people, Remus included. He never has entirely got it through his thick skull that true love doesn't care about imperfections, which is rather laughable really because I'm far from perfect myself and he says he loves me._

It had been then that Carrie had finally understood what it was about Dora and Fleur that was so similar: their husbands. They had both chosen to marry men who were far from perfect, for Bill had been terribly scarred after being attacked by Greyback. They both understood true love, and it was this understanding that had led Carrie to look past her initial impressions of Fleur and realise that she was in actual fact an extremely caring and loving individual. Carrie had felt somewhat guilty for misjudging her and over the years the muggle had become quite fond of the blonde haired witch...

And Merlin...here Carrie was, having eavesdropped on what might be the witch's final minutes...

_Please don't die_, Carrie thought desperately. _For the love of Merlin, don't die..._

It was not for ten long minutes that they once again heard fresh movement upon the landing, and Carrie scrambled hurriedly to her feet to hear a series of whisperings before the door's lock gave a click and it swung back upon it's hinges with a creak.

Teddy hastily reached to push Victoire back a few steps as he raised his wand, only to lower it at the sight of two familiar figures hurrying through the doorway.

Hermione Weasley hastily shut the door firmly behind her, despite Victoire's searching gaze over her shoulder to catch a glimpse of her parents, and Carrie watched in bemusement as Minerva McGonnogal strode purposefully into the middle of the room...

A cup and saucer held carefully in her hand.

Carrie simply stared in bemusement.

"Is this really the time for a cup of tea, Professor?" Teddy inquired, voicing Carrie's initial thoughts precisely, and the Headmistress of Hogwarts offered the youngest Lupin a deeply unimpressed look.

"I'm afraid I've already answered that burning question at least three times on my way up here, thank you very much, Mr. Lupin!" she announced briskly. "I had just poured myself a cup when I heard Miss Winters over the wireless! Clearly now is undoubtedly not the time for tea at all!"

"Perhaps you ought have left the cup behind..." Victoire began, only for the elderly witch to turn to offer her a raised eyebrow as she agreed:

"Perhaps, Miss Weasley, but I imagine you and the rest of the children might come to think otherwise."

Despite the chaos and panic around them, Carrie had a sudden urge to snigger. It was, she was sure, quite possibly the most English thing that she had ever come across in her whole entire life...

"It's a portkey." Hermione supplied as she reached to pull open the wardrobe, adding: "Alright, everybody out!"

As the children began to scramble out from underneath the invisibility cloak, Hugo reached to tug excitedly at his mother's arm.

"Did we win, Mummy? Did we win?"

But his question was ignored in favour of answering Teddy, who wondered:

"How did you make it all the way up here safely?"

"Our friends did a very fast and thorough job of clearing the staircases. They've managed to corner most of the remaining Dousers in the drawing room and the bedrooms instead." Hermione explained, and McGonnogal looked pleased as she declared:

"Brute force! Normally we go for something a little more subtle, but if it works...! Excellent job, Caroline, I do believe you've managed to summon half the population of Wizarding Britain to our aid this evening! You're a fine public speaker!"

"I was copying Remus." Carrie mumbled with a blush as the disillusionment charm faded away with a wave of Hermione's wand, and McGonnogal smiled approvingly as she murmured:

"Very wise! Now then, gather round all of you, gather round!"

"What about Mum and Hestia?" Victoire asked as they all gathered in the middle of the room.

"Hestia's in no fit state to travel." Hermione explained, reaching to usher Lily and Rose further forward.

"And my mum?" Victoire persisted, only for her voice to be drowned out by James asking:

"Where are we going?"

And as she held out the cup and saucer for them all to reach, McGonnogal told him:

"The safest place for all of us."

Carrie had never traveled by portkey before.

She despised it. It was worse than apparation, it made her feel nauseous and when she felt hard stone materialize beneath her feet she was pretty sure that she was about to vomit...

It was probably lucky, then, that she found herself stood in what appeared to be a small hospital ward. The stone walls looked rather familiar and yet Carrie was certain that she had never been there before in her life.

"Welcome back to Hogwarts." Teddy murmured in her ear, and the muggle felt a strange, calm feeling descend upon her at the mention of the school.

Nobody could fail to feel safe at Hogwarts, she thought with a smile. Even when one knew better, as Remus had told her, it was seemingly a natural reaction to the place. It was impenetrable. It was the safest place on earth...

And yet, Carrie's anxieties were far from forgotten, for in the back of her mind she could still recall Fleur's shrieking and Bill's pleading, the bangs and crashes of the battle...

"A nice and sweet cup of tea for all of us, I think!" McGonnogal was saying as she and a woman that Carrie did not recognise...Madam Pomfrey, she suspected, ushered the children each towards a bed. "And then a good night's rest! Your parents shall all be here by morning, I'm sure."

Carrie felt Teddy's hand enclose around her elbow and he gave her a gentle tug backwards.

"Come on," he whispered. "Let's go, there's not a chance we'll sleep a wink and I couldn't stand to just lie there."

Carrie allowed herself to be towed out of the door and out into the corridor beyond, and for some minutes they walked in silence through the school's silent corridors until they reached a winding spiral staircase that seemed to stretch up and up towards the clouds. They came to a halt atop the staircase beside a large archway that led out onto a narrow balcony, a thin iron rail painted in peeling black paint the only barrier before the sharp plummet beyond.

It was raining in the Highlands of Scotland, and the Order of the Phoenix's youngest two members stood under the archway, watching the rain fall.

Teddy reached to hold a hand out, staring at the raindrops splashing against his palm for a long moment before he murmured:

"It's cold out there."

Carrie sighed heavily, leaning to rest her head against his shoulder and he reached to put an arm around her, watching the puddles form upon the balcony before them, ever growing circles that slowly smoothed until they disappeared.

"It rained at the Battle of Hogwarts." he recalled, fingers fiddling absently with a loose strand of her hair. "They say when Voldemort fell people danced on the battlements and down upon the lawns. Everybody got soaked to the skin, but they didn't care because they were glad to be alive."

Carrie thought again of the vicious fighting back at Headquarters and of Fleur and, feeling she and Teddy had suffered a near miss she murmured:

"I'm glad we're alive."

And Teddy smiled and said:

"Well then..."

At first Carrie attempted to halt his efforts to lead her out into the downpour, but she found resistance entirely futile for her laughter seemed to make planting her feet firmly upon the floor all together impossible. They stumbled out onto the balcony, instantly shuddering at the icy rain, and he reached to draw her to him, one arm wrapped carefully around her waist.

"I don't know how to waltz." Carrie admitted as she took hold of him by the hand, peering up at him to see a raindrop slide down the bridge of his nose.

"It's alright," he assured her, voice the model of seriousness. "Mum taught me how to waltz last Christmas...so naturally I have absolutely no idea how to do it either."

Carrie sniggered, attempting to stifle her amusement in the front of his increasingly wet jumper and they began a rather awkward little shuffle from side to side. She straightened up a little, and after a few minutes they had managed a more definite rhythm, swaying from side to side as they stepped.

"This is utterly ridiculous." Carrie pointed out after a little while, and Teddy grinned and announced:

"Do you know, Miss Winters, I do believe you're right!"

And yet there they stayed, swaying from side to side as the rain fell in sheets, drenching their clothes until they hung limp and heavy from their bodies. It was, Carrie realised as Teddy paused in their swaying to raise their entwined hands so that she could consent to twirling, utterly exhilarating. The icy droplets were making her shiver, and yet she welcomed the sensation for it was a glorious feeling, a reminder that she was alive and well, that they had been triumphant, that people cared for what she had said over the wireless, that they had listened. And despite her fears for those left behind at Headquarters, Carrie felt as if a weight had been lifted from her chest and she drew in a deep breath, chilly air rushing into her lungs as she threw back her head and laughed. She laughed and shouted, the euphoric sounds echoing off the stone of the tower around her as Teddy grasped hold of her hands and they spun round and round, whooping and cheering at their victories and laughing in the face of monsters still to come.

They returned to the Hospital Wing some hour later when the last of the light had faded from the sky outside, creeping through the door so as not to wake the sleeping children and dripping water all over the floor that Teddy hastily vanished with his wand for fear of incurring the wrath of Madam Pomfrey. They bid one another a distinctly non-verbal goodnight and retreated to their respective beds, drawing the curtains firmly shut around themselves before peeling off sodden clothes and gladly pulling on dry pyjamas that had been left out upon the beds for them. Despite her suspicions that she would not sleep a wink, Carrie instantly fell into an uneasy slumber,

She dreamt of the bottomless abyss she had encountered in the Department of Mysteries, leaning desperately over the edge to catch hold of a slender hand that was just out of her reach, only to jump awake at an explosion of red and golden sparks.

Carrie sat bolt upright in her bed, gasping for air as her eyes darted searchingly around her, only to be met by the sight of curtains all around. The muggle took a moment to squeeze her eyes shut, reminding herself that it had only been a dream, before opening her eyes to stare at the curtains again, listening. At first she thought the dark hospital wing to be entirely silent, and she was just settling back down under the sheets when a noise caught her attention.

It was the sound of a child quietly sobbing.

After a brief hesitation, Carrie reached to throw the sheets back from her lap and climbed carefully out of bed, wincing at the cold stone under bare feet. Fumbling searchingly for the edge of the curtain she slipped out into the aisle, pausing to listen again. The crying was coming from the bed to her right and so she crept over towards the curtains surrounding it, reaching to peer through the gap.

Ten year old Louis Weasley was curled up under the sheets, hugging his pillow to his chest as he attempted to smother his weeping. At the sound of Carrie's movement he paused in his sniveling to look round at her, and the muggle swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat before stepping through the curtains and going to perch upon the edge of his bed. For a long moment the two of them regarded one another in silence, only broken by his occasional sniff, before Carrie vowed to say something comforting, but only managed:

"Hello..."

Louis' silvery blonde head dipped a little as his watery gaze came to rest upon his lap and he mumbled:

"Hello."

Carrie reached to tuck a stray strand of chestnut hair behind her ear, lips pursed together rather thoughtfully. As far as she could recall, she and Louis had never really had a conversation before, beyond the universal dialogue reserved for those who know very little about one another: Hello, how are you? I'm good, thanks. Carrie saw far less of him than many of Teddy's other cousins because his parents visited the Lupin household far less frequently, and he was a quiet boy who said very little to anybody save his parents and sisters.

"It looks as though you could use a tissue or two." Carrie observed, lips twitching vaguely towards a smile, and Louis simply looked up at her again, reaching to wipe a sleeve across his eyes. Apparently this was to be more of a monologue than a conversation, so Carrie gave another little smile, reaching to pat searchingly at her pyjamas before observing: "I've not got one to give you, I'm afraid. I'd conjure you one if I could but...well...you wizards don't realise how lucky you are, you know." There was a long pause as the child continued to stare at her, so she gazed searchingly around them for some clue as to what to say next, before she settled on: "You must be starting Hogwarts quite soon, mustn't you? You'll be eleven on your next birthday, after all. What House d'you suppose you'd like to be in?"

Louis regarded her through watery eyes for a long moment, chewing upon his bottom lip before he finally consented to murmuring:

"Dad says I'm going to be in Gryffindor because all us Weasleys are."

"Would you like that, then? Gryffindor's a good house, I always think. It'll suit you, won't it? Because you're being very brave."

Louis reached to fiddle with a loose thread upon his pyjama bottoms for a long moment before he admitted:

"I don't feel very brave."

"Neither do I." Carrie admitted, reaching to draw her feet up onto the bed, hugging her knees to her chest. "But then again that only means you're braver. The more frightened you feel the more potential you have for bravery, after all."

"I'm still not sure." the boy admitted, frowning deeply, and Carrie gave a shrug.

"It doesn't really matter though, does it? Gryffindors don't have the monopoly on bravery, that's what your Auntie Dora is always telling your Uncle Remus. And besides, Gryffindor isn't the only good house out there, in fact it isn't even my favorite one."

"What house would you want to be in?" Louis asked, at long last consenting to sitting up in his bed, and Carrie smiled almost proudly as she told him:

"I'd pick Hufflepuff over any of the others. I think loyalty is a wonderful thing, and I think it can give you more courage than sheer Gryffindor bravery ever could. It's people that matter the most to us, after all."

"People laugh at Hufflepuffs." Louis mumbled with a frown, and Carrie gave a soft snort of indignation.

"Well more fool them, then!" she said, and Louis sniggered and admitted:

"I like yellow, it's my favorite colour." He glanced thoughtfully up at the ceiling before recalling: "But my sisters are in Gryffindor...so I expect I will be too."

"It'd be nice having them in your common room, wouldn't it?"

"Yes...just as long as they don't do too much whispering."

"Whispering? About what?"

"Me. They like to whisper about me to wind me up, they won't tell me what it is that they are whispering about me."

"Ah...well, that's what big sisters are for though, isn't it? To be annoying every once in a while."

"Yes..." Louis let out an enormous sigh as if the weight of the world was upon his shoulders, before mumbling: "They were whispering earlier, I heard them. But they weren't whispering about me."

Carrie felt a lump form in her throat, but nevertheless consented to swallowing it and asking:

"What were they whispering about, then?"

Louis was silent for a very long moment before he reached to rub at his eyes, mumbling:

"About Mum. About the Dousers getting her like...like they got Hestia a...and...and Auntie Dora and Uncle Remus."

Carrie pursed her lips together worriedly, before forcing herself to plaster as much of a smile as she could muster.

"Well...you know, the thing about Hestia and...and Auntie Dora and Uncle Remus...the thing is they...well, it isn't as bad as it looks."

Louis' gaze hardened and he scowled at her rather accusingly as he informed her with frightening bluntness:

"Hestia's dying."

Carrie felt rather as though he had plunged a knife into her chest and her grip upon her knees instantly tightened.

"Why...why would you think that?" she asked, utterly appalled that at the tender age of ten he would have concluded such a thing, and she felt a sudden weakness descend upon her when he told her:

"That's what she told Uncle Charlie this morning. She said _I'm going to die in this bed, you know_."

"Well she didn't mean it like that, obviously!" Carrie reasoned rather desperately. "I mean...sometimes...sometimes we say things like that but we...we don't mean them! It's...it's like a figure of speech!" When Louis merely stared at her disbelievingly she hurriedly protested: "She just needs some medicine! Just...just like your mum! We'll get them some medicine from somewhere and before you know it, they'll all be better! Honestly, they will! You...you mustn't worry, Louis. You have to just...have a little faith. I mean...the Order's survived Voldemort, hasn't it? A bunch of halfwit Dousers is hardly going to bring them all down now, is it?"

At this thought, Louis managed an almost bright smile, and Carrie smiled back at him encouragingly.

"The adults will all be here tomorrow, too. I bet Madam Pomfrey will fix them all up good as new! Now, why don't you try and get some sleep? It'll all look better in the morning, I promise."

When she herself finally crept back to her own bed and climbed back between the now chilly sheets, Carrie barely managed to sleep at all, and it seemed to her that she had only just been dropping off at long last when she was awoken by a high pitched scream, shortly followed by loud laughter and pounding feet, and then...

"JAMES SIRIUS POTTER, WHAT IN MERLIN'S NAME ARE YOU DOING?"

At Teddy's shouting, Carrie hastily threw back the sheets and scrambled out of bed, wrenching back the curtains just in time to see a shrieking Lily bolt past her, James hot on the little witch's heels as he held out his hands towards her, waving them around and laughing hysterically. He appeared to have dipped them into some sort of gloopy concoction that looked revoltingly similar to partially dried blood. The sight made Carrie shudder, for it immediately reminded her of the poor muggle woman back in the Department of Mysteries.

"James STOP IT!" Teddy demanded as he hurried wearily after the two siblings, as Lily screamed:

"Go away, go away, go away!"

"What IS that, anyway?" Rose inquired from her position sat upon the edge of her designated bed, nose wrinkling in disgust as Lily resorted to a hasty U-turn, dashing back down the middle of the room. "It looks disgusting!"

"I don't know!" James informed her, skidding to a halt in order to wave a hand in Rose's face, causing her to let out a disgusted shout, topping backwards onto the bed. "I found it in Madam Pomfrey's office...seriously, Lils, take a closer look!"

"Noooo!" Lily shrieked, face contorted in revulsion, and with that she resorted to pulling open a nearby storeroom door, disappearing inside it and slamming it shut.

"Now look what you've done!" Teddy muttered irritably, striding over towards the door. "We'll not get her out of there for at least half an hour! What's Madam Pomfrey going to say when she hears you've been snooping around her office, James? And you don't just STICK YOUR HAND IN RANDOM POTIONS, for Merlin's sake! You could loose a bloody hand!"

Apparently James wasn't listening to a word his cousin was saying, for as Carrie approached the storeroom door she found him leaning with his ear pressed to the wood, grinning wickedly.

"I'm coming in, Lily..."

"GO AWAY, JAMES!"

"I mean it...I'm going to come in..."

"TEDDY! MAKE HIM GO AWAY!"

"I'm turning the handle..."

"James don't touch anything!" Teddy snapped, reaching to grasp hold of the boy by the wrist and pulling him away from the door, but it was too late, an ugly red smear had been left to tarnish the door handle.

Teddy opened his mouth to berate the grinning prankster yet again when quite suddenly he froze, staring at the door with increasingly wide eyes.

"Sweet Merlin..." he breathed, dropping James' wrist in sudden realization. "Carrie...Carrie look at this!"

Carrie shuffled reluctantly forwards, not entirely keen to get a closer look. It was all too similar, all too much like the Department of Mysteries, too much like the poor woman who Kraft had so brutally Obliviated...

"Look!" Teddy hissed, reaching to grab hold of her hand and pull her forwards until she was stood next to him. "Look, it's...it's like blood on the door handle..."

"It's like the Department of Mysteries." Carrie murmured, hoping that he might take a hint as she shuffled backwards a little, but he merely spun around to face her, a odd look of triumph upon his face as she cried:

"Exactly, Carrie! It's like the Department of Mysteries! Exactly!"

And to both Carrie and the surrounding children's bemusement he threw his arms around the muggle and pressed a firm kiss to her lips, before announcing: "That's IT!"

"That's what?" Carrie asked, blinking at him in surprise, and she thought he might start dancing about the room in excitement as he told her:

"The muggle woman's hand was bleeding, there was blood on the door handle!"

"From where she touched it." Carrie agreed, not entirely sure what was so amazing about this recollection, only for Teddy to clap his hands together excitedly and cry:

"Well! That's an ancient magic! Old and distasteful! Nobody uses it anymore! But the Dousers would, wouldn't they? They're up for anything gruesome! And it's perfect, isn't it? A sure way of stopping anybody magical breaking in!"

When Carrie merely smiled rather uncertainly at him, the young wizard reached to lay his hands upon her shoulders, gripping them firmly as he breathed:

"It's muggle blood, Carrie! That's part of the muggles' Final Task! Muggle blood opens the door!"

_Note: Ooooooh! Exciting! (I hope!) And what's behind the door? Well...you should be able to figure that one out from previous chapters...and if not, we'll be finding out soon enough! _


	19. Inside Help

_Note: Sorry for the slow update, I got distracted by my home town getting wrecked, looted and set n fire by a bunch of degenerate scumbags...what is the world coming to, I wonder..._

_Oh, and I'm doing some beta reading, and have 4 hours worth of video and hundreds of photographs to sort and edit too, which has slowed my writing up quite a lot. XD_

_There are M rated themes again in this chapter. Consider yourselves warned!_

_And if anybody cares, which you won't, Jasmine Wickes is the Auror Tonks mentions in Meet the Lupins, when telling Remus that the mediwizard called Sloane who works at the Ministry is a pervert. (Tonks mentions that Sloane treated Jasmine after she was injured during a raid in Manchester.)_

**19: Inside Help**

Carrie didn't feel up to enormous cooked breakfast that awaited her that morning in the Great Hall and resorted to nibbling rather half-heartedly at a slice of toast, ever fixed upon the enormous double doors at the back of the room, willing other members of the Order of the Phoenix to appear and join the children at the breakfast table as if all were well and good. But when the doors did at last open it was only Professor McGonnogal, who came striding briskly up an aisle between two house tables, what appeared to be a rolled up magazine in her hand.

"The Lovegoods have been at it again!" she announced rather triumphantly to the older children when she reached them, and though Carrie didn't know what she was talking about, both Victoire and Teddy smiled.

"I always knew they'd carry on supporting us." Teddy said, leaning across the table eagerly. "It'll take more than a couple of Dousers throwing their weight around to stop Luna going to print! Can I see, Professor?"

McGonnogal's almost smug expression instantly faltered and she looked down at the magazine in her hand, tapping it reluctantly against her palm before she sighed heavily and murmured:

"Very well then, very well."

Teddy accepted the magazine with a grin and hastily unrolled it, setting it down upon the table between himself and Carrie, reaching to smooth out the wrinkles.

"The Quibbler?" Carrie murmured as she shifted sideways to get a closer look, and Teddy gave a firm nod.

"They print utter nonsense most of the time," the wizard explained with a grin. "But they have a habit of getting dead political and insightful when there's a war on!"

Carrie scanned the right hand side of the front page, reading off the snippets of headlines that could be found inside: Feeding the Fire: How YOU Can Support The Order's Noble Cause! The Truth Behind The Muggle Hospital Myth...

"Sweet Merlin..." Teddy breathed, voice almost reduced to a squeak, and Carrie's gaze instantly darted to the front page article that he was reading.

_DOUSER INTERFERENCE AT AZKABAN REACHES SICKENING NEW LEVEL_

"This wasn't it the Prophet I read earlier." Teddy muttered, and Victoire gave a despairingly little huff as she muttered:

"Of course it wasn't! The Dousers have the Prophet wrapped around their little finger."

Carrie pursed her lips together worriedly as she leant down, squinting anxiously at the article so that she could begin to read.

_The Dousers have once again revealed their true colours this week after their two second in commands were involved in an alarming incident at Azkaban Prison, where currently Order members Remus and Nymphadora Lupin are being held unlawfully without trial. After the Mead Hearing and the introduction of stricter regulations surrounding employment at the prison, it had up until recently been safe to assume that the safety of prisoners had improved. But this is just yet another sound reform that the Dousers have brought under threat in the most sickening manner. Under current legislation from the Wizengamot, Dousers are not required to be escorted around the prison premises, which no doubt allows them to partake in all manner of under the table dealings and disgraceful activities whilst leaving the Ministry's hands squeaky clean. _

_Azkaban guard Mr. Fred Finnegan was on duty during the early hours of this morning when the incident in question occurred and says that it was sheer luck that he caught wind of what was about to happen in time to put a stop to it all. _

"_If I'd not reached that section of my patrol when I did, I don't care to imagine what would have transpired." Mr. Finnegan told our reported this morning. "I suppose it's simply lucky that Mr. Lupin has a pair of lungs on him to say the least." _

Carrie felt the air catch in her throat in panic at the mention of Remus, and she bent closer than ever, nose practically pressed tot he paper as her heart began to race in panic.

_Mr. Remus Lupin, who spoke at this year's Phoenix Day Parade and is credited by many as the founder of the third Order of the Phoenix, has been under constant pressure from the Dousers since his arrival in Azkaban, as has his wife, former Deputy Head of Aurors and fellow Order member Nymphadora Lupin, as Mr. Finnegan explains:_

"_They don't leave the pair of them alone. It seems to me that a day doesn't pass without a Douser coming to visit the Lupins. If you're asking me, they're wasting their time. Mr. Lupin is entirely uncooperative with the Dousers to the point of remaining entirely mute throughout their talks with him, and it is to my mind pointless to ask Mrs. Lupin anything, she is in no state for talking, let alone relentless questioning."_

_When speaking of the incident itself, Mr. Finnegan said that he believed it important that the public hear precisely what happened and recalls:_

"_I first saw the two Dousers stood outside of Mr. Lupin's cell on my first pass through that section of the prison, but I didn't think too much of it at first because they have a habit of turning up at obscure hours to try and talk to him, so I carried on with my patrol. When I passed by a second time some while later I was surprised to still see them there and was rather bemused to find them pressed up against the bars, talking to Mr. Lupin in whispers as if they did not wish to be overheard. I was worried something might be afoot so I cut short my next round and doubled back on myself, and that was when I heard Mr. Lupin shouting at the top of his lungs for help. I thought perhaps the Dousers had entered the cell and were assaulting him, so I ran back to his cell only to find the Dousers gone and Mr. Lupin lying with his face pressed to the bars. He told me the Dousers were headed for his wife's cell and that they meant to punish her because he had been unable to tell them the locations of the Order's safe houses. When I asked him what precisely he meant by punish, Mr. Lupin told me they had said they were going to "do a Helena-Rose", so I rushed over to the woman's wing and along to Mrs. Lupin's cell. The door was wide open and I could hear a commotion going on inside, so I drew my wand and went in to demand the Dousers leave. I can only say that I am glad that I arrived when I did, from what I could see a minute or so more and the disgraceful bastards might have succeeded. There is no place suitable for sickening behavior as I witnessed that night, not even a prison like Azkaban." _

_Mr. Finnegan made no further comment about the incident, but called on the Ministry to take the appropriate disciplinary action against those who were involved. _

"_I seriously doubt they'll get so much as a slap on the wrists." he admitted. "If anything it'll be me being disciplined for speaking out and giving this interview. It makes me world is coming to."_

_And there you have it, readers. This is what awaits any other members of the Order of the Phoenix should they be caught. This is how the Ministry of Magic thanks our protectors. This is a heroes' new world." _

"We have to get them out of there." Carrie whispered through clenched teeth. "We have to, Ted, they can't stay in there any longer, they just can't."

"At least the guards are keeping a decent eye on things." Teddy murmured half-heartedly, reaching to rake a distinctly shaken hand through his hair. "But you're right, we need to do something. We need to get through that door today, we don't have time to wait for the Order to regroup...if they regroup."

Carrie turned to offer him a wide-eyed stare.

"What do you mean...if they regroup? They...they will regroup, they're going to come here, that's what Professor McGonnogal said..."

Teddy gestured to the children busy eating their breakfasts further down the table with a tilt of his head.

"You'd say the same to them, wouldn't you?" he mumbled despairingly, and with that he reached for his orange juice.

Carrie reached to grip hold of him by the sleeve, shaking her head.

"But...but they can't...! They can't give up! The Order has to keep on fighting, Teddy, there are muggles everywhere relying on them!"

As her voice rose to a near shout, the children paused in their own conversations to turn and stare down the table at her, Teddy hastily put down his glass and turned to shoot her a warning look, instantly silencing her.

"I've heard things, Carrie." he breathed, lips barely moving so as not to be overheard. "McGonnogal and Pomfrey, they've had news during the night. The Order is broken, they've scattered, vanished! The Ministry broke up the rioting at Grimmauld, they've set the Dousers free and the whole lot of them are furious! The Order are being hunted down like animals, Carrie! Those safe houses Dad couldn't tell the Dousers about, d'you know why he can't tell them anything? Because they _don't exist_! Yes, there are family members and friends who will take members in and hide them, but none of it's planned! They don't know where to find one another! They've no plans, no unity...they've nothing to protect the muggles with!"

Carrie drew in a deep breath, teeth gritted against tears.

"Your mum and dad, Ted, they wouldn't give up fighting, and none of the others would either, not when there are lives at risk..."

"The only lives Mum and Dad are fighting for now are their own!" Teddy hissed, jabbing a furious finger at the article upon the table in front of them."That goes for the rest of the Order, too!" And with that he got abruptly to his feet, reaching to pull Carrie up after him. "It's every man and woman for themselves until they can find one another, Carrie, and that could take days! We don't have days, we need to act now! Come on!"

As she watched him snatch up the Quibbler and thrust it into Victoire's hands, with a demand of: hide this from the others, Carrie chewed nervously upon her lip.

"What are we going to do?" she asked once she found herself being marched up towards the other end of the table, and Teddy told her:

"We're going to call a meeting, for at least what's left of us."

And so it was that the Order of the Phoenix called it's first meeting at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

There were just three members in attendance, gathered in the Headmistress' office.

Carrie Winters sat across from Minerva McGonnogal, resisting the urge to squirm as the formidable witch eyed her thoughtfully.

"This has the potential to be sheer lunacy." the Headmistress observed after a very long silence, and at Carrie's side, Teddy shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

"We don't really have a lot of choice, Professor." the young wizard pointed out, and McGonnogal pressed her lips together into a firm line.

"If we were to wait to hear news of the others, we would stand a far greater chance of repeating the success of last time." she said, folding her hands together neatly in her lap, and she did not so much as blink when Teddy reminded her:

"My parents don't have time for us to wait."

"Your parents, Theodore Lupin, would disapprove fervently of you basing your plans in any way shape or form around their own predicament! Indeed I believe it was your mother who commented last I saw her: _This is bigger than us._"

Teddy opened his mouth to protest, only to think better of it, reaching to rub a weary hand across his eyes instead. Carrie, however, refused to be deterred.

"We don't need to wait for the others, we can do it on our own! We've...we've got muggle blood, we've got an invisibility cloak, we've got a metamorphmagus! Surely we can manage on our own?"

"There's no getting into the Ministry that easily these days." McGonnogal said, frowning deeply over their shoulders at nothing in particular. "After your last little visit they've grown quite paranoid, they'll not be falling for your tricks again, Theodore, they're wise to shape shifting now. They require Ministry accredited identification upon your arrival, and of course anybody known to be working for the Order has been put on a black list."

There was a long silence as Teddy's gaze dropped to his lap, and McGonnogal reached to tap her fingers upon the desk before her, frowning deeply. After some while the witch paused in her tapping to reach and pick up a small pile of papers upon her desk, eying them thoughtfully.

"That being said," she mused, eyes narrowing determinedly. "Not all of us have been blighted with the desire to show our allegiance so obviously." With that she reached to pick up the papers in front of her, pausing to straighten them before she rose to her feet. "Come along, Miss Winters." the Headmistress said as she adjusted the glasses upon her nose. "I shall escort you to the Ministry myself."

And so it was that Professor Minerva McGonnogal arrived at the Ministry of Magic to request a background check on a potential new Arithmacy teacher for Hogwarts.

Accompanied closely by a certain muggle who was hiding beneath an invisibility cloak.

They had not arrived at the Ministry's visitors' entrance quite as promptly as first planned because Teddy had spent a good half an hour protesting at the fact that he was to be left to keep an eye on his cousins. It was not until the Headmistress had reminded him for the fifth time that he had no means of identifying himself satisfactorily that he had finally consented to staying behind. Carrie was none to pleased to be headed for the Department of Mysteries on her own once again, but she was left with very little time to panic because she was concentrating far too hard on keeping as close to McGonnogal as possible, so that she could squeeze through the door into the Ministry without being noticed by the watching Security Wizards.

McGonnogal swept up to the visitors' desk with an air of such confidence that Carrie found herself feeling surprisingly calm as she hurried along at the elderly witch's side. When the man behind the desk failed to look up immediately, McGonnogal cleared her throat loudly. The wizard looked up, expression bored.

"Ah, Professor McGonnogal." he said, managing a vague smile. "What brings you to the Ministry of Magic this morning?"

McGonnogal reached forward to set the papers she was carrying down upon the desk before him.

"I am here to request a background check on a potential new teacher at Hogwarts." she announced briskly, only for the man to nod and tell her:

"That shouldn't be a problem, Professor. If you could present some identification I'll just check you against the Black List..."

The witch's eyes instantly narrowed.

"And how long shall that take, I wonder?" she asked, sounding mildly outraged. "I've several appointments to keep this morning, I don't have hours to waste whilst you search for my name on a list I'm certainly not on!"

"I'm afraid it's Ministry protocol for us to check." the wizard behind the desk explained, as he pulled open a drawer and drew out a hefty stack of parchment. "Especially with...individuals such as yourself..."

"I beg your pardon?"

"What I mean to say, Professor, is that you were active during the wars as a member of the Order of the Phoenix."

"And you mean to accuse me of involving myself with them now?"

"Certainly not, I am merely following Ministry..."

"Let me tell you something, Mr. Fletcher, if I were involved in the current Order of the Phoenix the Ministry of Magic would have no doubt whatsoever about my guilt! Because unlike Mr. Lupin I would not have spared Ambrose Kraft the comfort of falling from a second floor balcony, I would have hurled him off the nearest_ roof_!"

_Slap!_

There was a slightly stunned silence as Fletcher looked up from the papers he was examining to stare, somewhat dazed at the identification that the fuming witch had just slammed down onto the desk in front of him. He opened his mouth to speak, only to think better of it.

"Well?" McGonnogal asked, peering down her nose at him through her gold rimmed glasses, and the Ministry employee hastily cleared his throat.

"I'm afraid since the interferences by members of the public yesterday evening the list of undesirables has..._lengthened considerably_." he said as he scanned one long list of names before pushing that piece of parchment aside in favor of the one beneath it.

Something in McGonnogal's jaw twitched, and Carrie felt instantly nervous.

What if somebody from the Ministry had seen the Hogwarts Headmistress the previous night at Grimmauld Place? What if her name was on the Black List?

Carrie was pretty certain that she ought not wait to find out, and so she hastily turned her attention away from the desk and hurried off towards the lift. Weaving in and out of the various witches and wizards hurrying back and forth across the Atrium, the muggle came to a careful halt beside a scarlet-clad witch who was waiting for the lift.

It was not for a long moment of musing that the woman looked familiar that Carrie recognised her as the Auror named Wickes who had exchanged sharp words with Ambrose Kraft the last time Carrie had visited the Ministry. Carrie gazed up at her approvingly at the memory.

Wickes was a tall woman in her late twenties, her face thin and angular and her short, choppy hair a dark and shiny shade of red. She had warm, olive skin and dark brown eyes that, currently, were fixated upon the closed lift doors in front of her, face contorted into a scowl.

The scowl visibly deepened when the doors finally slid open and, once she and the invisible muggle had stepped inside, a voice from back out in the Atrium called:

"Hold that door!"

Just like the Auror beside her, Carrie turned to look searchingly for the speaker, and they both spotted none other than the Douser Cain, who was running towards them, navy blue robes billowing out behind him as he held one hand out, as if willing the doors not to close.

Wickes leant back against the wall, folding her arms rather lazily across her chest as she watched his haphazard approach, making no move whatsoever to honour his request. When he was forced to practically dive through the fast closing doors, she smirked coldly at him.

Panting at his sudden burst of activity, Cain leant forward, hands resting upon his knees as he swore under his breath. As the lift gave a small lurch and they began to move, the Douser straightened up to offer the Auror a scowl of his own.

"Thanks, Jasmine!" he said, voice positively dripping with sarcasm as he reached to straighten his robes, and the smirk instantly faded from Wickes' face.

Carrie was forced to jump backwards, flattening herself against a wall as within the blink of an eye, Jasmine Wickes whipped her wand from her pocket and in just two stomping steps closed the gap between Auror and Douser, tip of her wand jabbing him threateningly in the neck. Cain attempted to leap backwards in surprise, only to collide with the closed doors behind him with a metallic thud.

"You BASTARD!" the Auror spat, eyes widening quite madly, and the Douser shrunk back against the doors, expression instantly nervous.

"Listen, Jas..." he began, voice oddly high-pitched in comparison to the mocking, gruff voice that Carrie had heard before, but he was cut off by Wickes tightening her grip upon her wand and snapping:

"DON'T YOU _LISTEN JAS_ ME, YOU DISGRACEFUL LITTLE WRETCH!"

"Jasmine..."

"SHE WAS YOUR DEPUTY HEAD! SHE WAS GOOD TO YOU! SHE DEFENDED YOU AGAINST THE WIZENGAMOT WHEN YOU WENT UP ON DISCIPLINARY CHARGES!"

"I..."

"It's bad enough you deserting the Aurors in favour of that sick bastard Kraft! We all thought you were decent, Cain! SHE THOUGHT YOU WERE DECENT! When you attacked her husband that first time and she found out you'd joined the Dousers, d'you know what she did? She wrote to me! Told me not to be too hard on you, she said you were just upset about Queenswood, that you were disillusioned! Misguided! BUT SHE WAS BLOODY WRONG ABOUT YOU, WASN'T SHE? YOU'RE AS BLOODY SICK AS THE REST OF THEM, AREN'T YOU, YOU FOUL, FILTHY PIECE OF..."

"The Quibbler's lying! Those...those Lovegoods, their barking mad..."

"BULLSHIT!"

Carrie winced as Wickes' free hand shot forward to grasp hold of the Douser's neck, pushing him back against the door, causing the air to catch in his throat with a strangled gasp.

"I...I..."

"This her, was it?" Wickes hissed furiously, the tip of her wand coming to brush against his cheek. "This the best she could manage, was it? Is this what it looks like, a dying woman trying best to defend herself? Get a kick out of it, did you? Watching her struggle whilst the two of you pinned her to the floor!"

Carrie dared to shuffle forwards just a little, squinting up at the reddening Douser's face, and she could just about make out a thin line of rounded dents upon his cheek. They looked distinctly like fingernail marks.

"It's not what it looks like..." Cain whimpered, eyes wide as he attempted to shake his head in denial.

"LIAR!" Wickes shouted, making both Carrie and the Douser flinch. Leaning forward until their noses were practically touching, the Auror whispered: "Admit it, Cain. You were going to rape her, weren't you?"

"NO!" Cain cried, screwing his eyes firmly shut and shaking his head vigorously. "Never! I...I would never do that...not to...not to her! I...I'd never hurt her, honestly Jasmine, you know I wouldn't..."

"I don't know a bloody single thing about you!" Wickes cried, hurt now rather than purely angry. "Everything I thought I knew about you turned out to be rubbish, didn't it? And I wouldn't put it past you, not now!"

"I WOULDN'T HURT HER! Not...not like THAT!"

"I don't believe you!"

"I was...I was trying to stop it! I...I was trying to make Mortell stop!"

"That's a LIE! I went straight to Azkaban this morning! I've spoken to her husband, I know what you told him...and I've SEEN HER! I've seen the state of her...Cain...HOW COULD YOU?"

As he found himself being smacked back against the closed doors again, the Douser's face contorted in fear and again the Auror leant forward, glare searing into his screwed-shut eyelids.

"I'm warning you, Cain." Carrie heard her spit, voice so dangerous that Carrie shuffled back a little in alarm. "If you so much as lay a filthy little finger on Tonks ever again, I'll take this dirty little neck of yours and I will SNAP IT!"

And at that precise moment, the disembodied voice of the lift announced that they had arrived at Level Three. Wickes' grip upon the Dousers' neck tightened abruptly and he let out another choked gasp. And with that, the doors slid open, and without so much as a glance out into the corridor, Wickes gave Cain a sharp tug forward a step, before shoving him unceremoniously backwards and out into the corridor, where he promptly tripped and fell flat upon his back with a loud grunt of pain. Before he could scramble to his feet the doors slid shut again, and Carrie watched with wide eyes as Wickes let out a small, contented sigh before settling herself back against the wall again, taking a moment to pocket her wand and straighten her robes before she folded her arms back across her chest.

For a long moment, Carrie simply stared at the witch stood before her, watching as after a long moment she abruptly reached to bury her face in her hands, sucking in a deep and audible breath. For a moment, the muggle thought the Auror was about to burst into tears, yet though she shuddered, fingertips reaching to pull at strands of red hair in agitation, she remained entirely silent. When she withdrew her face from the refuge of her palms a moment later, her cheeks were tear-free, though Carrie couldn't help but think that her eyes looked distinctly watery.

And despite herself, Carrie Winters felt compelled to take a step forward and whisper:

"I'm going to get her out of there."

Jasmine Wickes very nearly jumped out of her skin. One hand delving into her pocket to grip the handle of her wand, she looked searchingly towards the invisible muggle before demanding:

"Who's there?"

Carrie shrunk back towards the wall, contemplating her next mood and as she watched a single tear escape and trickle down the Auror's cheek as she looked around rather wildly, the muggle decided to admit:

"I'm under an invisibility cloak. My name is Carrie Winters, and I mean to rescue the Lupins from Azkaban...one way or another." And with that, she reached to pull the invisibility cloak from around her, heart hammering nervously in her chest. As the Auror stared at her in surprise, she took a moment to swallow the anxious lump in her throat.

"I know you!" Wickes breathed, lips suddenly twitching towards a smile. "You're the muggle who lives next door to Tonks..."

"That's me." Carrie agreed, and quite suddenly Wickes turned abruptly to slap a hand down upon a large red button upon the wall. The lift came to an abrupt halt, causing Carrie to stumble sideways a few steps.

"Are you with the Order?" Wickes asked in a whisper as she turned back to eye the muggle rather excitedly, and Carrie found herself smiling at the enthusiasm that she so easily recognised from another female Auror she knew.

"Yes." she said, shifting a little at the Auror's scrutiny, and she suddenly found herself asking: "Is...is Dora...she isn't...she isn't really dying, is she?"

Wickes' expression was suddenly bleak and she let out a rather awkward chuckle.

"Well we're all dying, Carrie." she murmured, reaching to brush a strand of choppy hair behind one ear. "It's just some of us are...are dying a bit faster than the rest..."

Carrie felt her stomach twist into a sickening knot, and she felt such dread all of a sudden that she barely heard Wickes ask:

"The Order are planning to break Tonks and Remus out of Azkaban?"

When Carrie remembered how to use her voice she mumbled:

"Not...exactly..."

The Auror straightened up, expression suddenly quite fierce.

"Well," she announced, giving her head a determined little toss. "Whatever it is you're planning...if it helps Tonks at all, I'd be glad to help you. It can't be very safe for you to be wandering around here on your own! What are you doing here, exactly?"

And despite the sickness in the pit of her stomach, Carrie Winters grinned up at her new ally, relieved that her gamble of revealing herself had apparently paid off.

"Well," the muggle said, adjusting her grip upon the invisibility cloak that she had draped across the crook of her arm. "I need to open a door..."


	20. Meet the Aurors

_Note: A chapter especially for **Sam** before she leaves for London. _

_I went off on a random tangent...it's relevant, honest! If anybody happens to particularly like Jas and Isaac, do let me know...perhaps they might make an appearance in a sequel at some point..._

_Disclaimers: I do not own Harry Potter, nor am I making any profit form this piece of writing._

**20: Meet the Aurors**

"Stick to me like extra strength Spellotape." Jasmine Wickes instructed her invisible companion under her breath as the lift doors in front of them opened and they stepped out into the corridor beyond. "I've got to put in an appearance in the office, won't take me a moment. I can't go getting my hands dirty you see...Kraft's already watching me like a hawk, can't take being turned down more than once, nasty little tosser! It's alright, I'll get myself an alibi..." The Auror trailed off as she made an abrupt turn, reaching to fling open a pair large, highly polished wooden doors to reveal a large, bustling office that had been divided up into little cubicles.

As she hurriedly along behind her new ally, Carrie just about caught sight of a large, shiny golden plaque upon the wall outside: Auror Headquarters.

"Morning boys and girls!" Wickes called loudly to the office at large. "Has anybody seen Isaac around anywhere? I want to drag him into the nearest broom cupboard and snog him to within an inch of his life!"

As Carrie positively gawped at the back of Wickes' head, the muggle was astounded at the complete lack of response that this outrageous announcement gained from the other Aurors in the office. After a long moment, a dark haired wizard sat at a desk to their right consented to look up from the paperwork he was examining, offering Wickes a raised eyebrow.

"He's hiding from you in Tonks' office again." he supplied, seemingly fighting a snigger, and Wickes grinned broadly.

"Cheers, Daniel!" she exclaimed, and with that she strode on through the office, making for the opposite wall, entirely ignoring her colleague's call of:

"Leave the poor old sod alone, will you?"

Carrie found herself dodging paper memos that were whizzing back and forth between desks, narrowly avoiding tripping over various stacks of papers that were spilling out of crowded cubicles until they reached the other side of the room, where they turned left past a door labeled: H J Potter: Head of Auror Department. Somebody had attempted to stick some sort of label across Harry's name, but it had been scratched off. When they reached the far corner of the room Carrie found herself confronted with a second door, this one labeled in a similar fashion: I R Graham: Deputy Head of Auror Department.

Wickes paused just outside of the door, glanced over her shoulder as if to check nobody was watching, before reaching to rip the name label from the door to reveal the N A Lupin underneath. Tossing the ripped label to the floor she reached to push open the office door, leading the way inside.

"Some moron's been sticking sticky labels on doors again!" she announced as Carrie hurried in after her, and as the door swung shut behind them a man's voice murmured:

"Have they? I do keep taking them down, but they're being very persistent about me knocking Tonks off her perch."

Dora's former office was a relatively small, yet comfy room, decorated with rich royal blue wallpaper, dark marble floor with a thick rug lain out before the fireplace on the right hand wall. Carrie had glanced at two black leather armchairs set before the fireplace before noting that the back wall was lined with filing cabinets. A large highly polished black desk dominated the room and a tall backed leather chair was set behind it. A wizard dressed in scarlet Auror robes with neatly combed iron-grey hair and a particularly prominent chin was sat in the chair, seemingly midway through scribbling some notes on a long roll of parchment on the desk in front of him. He looked up from his work to peer at his visitor through a thin pair of spectacles, and as Wickes sauntered across the room towards him he asked:

"Speaking of which, did you see her?"

"Mm..." Wickes mumbled as she came to a halt before the desk, palms coming to rest flat upon the highly polished surface so that she could lean forward, hanging her head.

"How was she?"

"How d'you bloody reckon?"

Isaac Graham reached to run a weary hand across his face, sighing heavily, and Wickes glanced up, offering him an apologetic smile.

"Sorry..." she mumbled, and he offered her a half-hearted smile in return.

"It's alright." he told her, abandoning his quill upon the desk so that he could lean back in his seat, gaze upon the ceiling. There was a long pause before he said: "I've taken the photographs away. The family ones...and the big portrait of the Order...for safe keeping. I thought she'd hate for Kraft or one of his lot to destroy them. Or any of her stuff, actually...I took all of it..."

"I thought it was looking a bit sparse in here."

"Mm...I did think of putting a permanent sticking charm on the Order one and hanging it above the fireplace...but...well they'd know it was me..."

Wickes sniggered, brightening at the thought and Carrie watched as she straightened up, before slowly making her way around the desk until she was stood beside his chair. He swiveled round to face her, gazing up at her rather questioningly as she grinned widely at him.

"Hi." she said, leaning forward a little until she could rest her hands upon the arms of the chair.

"Hi." the wizard greeted, quirking an eyebrow upwards, only to wince a little when she replaced her hands upon his knees instead. "Did...did you want something, Jas?" he asked after a long moment, and Wickes pursed her lips firmly together, eying him keenly.

"Might do..." she murmured, leaning forward a little as he leant further back in his chair. "Why...what're you offering?"

Isaac reached to clamp his hands down atop of hers, as if worried she might feel tempted to move them.

"You know..." he recalled hurriedly as she fought against a grin. "Now Tonks isn't here and...and the Wizengamot have dumped me in here and stuck a sign on the door...that...that makes me the Deputy Head of Aurors...and that makes me your BOSS...so...you know...this is sort of...inappropriate..."

"Don't be such a traitor, Isaac!" the witch scolded with a smirk. "Where's your sense of departmental loyalty? Tonks is our Deputy, if the Wizengamot want to say otherwise they can all piss off..."

"In which case I might take this opportunity to remind you of one of Tonks' Golden Rules when it comes to her office." Isaac said, wincing again when she leant forward until their foreheads were pressed together, both staring at one another intently.

"Tonks' Golden Rules for her office..." Wickes mused, sucking in a deep, thoughtful breath that seemed to make the wizard give a little shiver. "_Two knocks on the door and after that bugger off, I'm busy...?_"

"No...not that one..."

"_Stick personal memos in the bottom tray..._"

"Not that one either..."

"_My office is not your personal sitting room?_"

"Nope..."

"_If Harry asks, I'm not in...?_"

"Obviously not..."

Wickes sighed heavily, rolling her eyes.

"_Just because I'm not in, doesn't make my office an enlarged broom cupboard. If you want to get yourselves sacked for inappropriate behavior, sod off and shag in the maintenance cupboard on Floor Five?_"

"That would be the one."

Wickes' expression was rather proud as she pulled her hands free from his grasp, reaching to wind her arms around his neck instead.

"D'you know she invented that one especially for us?" she asked, positively beaming, and Isaac's face instantly reddened.

"I...have a hunch she might've..."

"Don't see why really, for one thing it's bloody hypocritical of her because when she got that award the other year and we had that party...WELL! Did you notice when she and Remus disappeared for about an hour and Kingsley spotted them coming out of the lift and he reckoned..."

"Tonks claims that a lie."

"She bloody would do, wouldn't she?"

"They went home to check on their son..."

"Rubbish! And secondly, we've never done it in her bloody office!"

"Of course we haven't..." Isaac chuckled rather nervously. "That would be...stupid...obviously..."

"I dunno, this chair looks pretty comfy." Wickes mused, raising a suggestive eyebrow, and when his eyes widened at her chuckling she reaching to stroke his hair, expression suddenly serious.

"Don't look at me like that, Isaac." she told him, shifting until she could drop down into his lap. "I'm only joking."

"Ha..." he mumbled stiffly, reaching to wrap his arms around her to stop her sliding from her precarious perch.

"Has somebody said something?" the witch demanded, expression suddenly outraged. "Is...is it Beth again? Is it? Because I'll march down to that cupboard of an office of hers and tell her to mind her own bloody bus..."

"Don't!" Isaac cried, grip upon her tightening until she was crushed against his chest, her head coming to rest against his shoulder. "It's...it's not her, anyway. It's just...well...the others...ALL OF THEM!"

"You mustn't listen to them, love!" Wickes declared fiercely, reaching to cup his face in her hands as his eyes grew wide, agitated. "Stay calm, eh? I don't give a toss what they think about us, I love you, I...I don't give a damn about what they think!"

"Even...even Tonks that day..." Isaac complained, face contorting in horror at the memory.

"What?"

"She...well she said..."

"Tonks should bloody know better! I mean...Remus is what...at least ten years older than her...more, I reckon! And it was practically HER IDEA that I ask you to the pub that time in the first place!"

"She called me in here, you know...to...to talk about you."

"What did she say?"

"She told me to watch myself...she said we were being unprofessional...let on that Harry was watching us, that she'd already spoken to him about us and if we weren't careful there wouldn't be a whole lot she could do to keep us from an inquiry. She said she understood how exciting office romances were..."

"_Did_ she now...!"

"I rather doubt she meant it like _that_."

"I dunno...ever notice the way she and Robert used to bond over coffee?"

"Not really, no..."

"I heard from Whatshisface that they actually dated for a bit, you know, during their training days...!"

"Jas for Merlin's sake...! Anyway, she said she understood all that but perhaps we ought...you know...try and keep things a bit...quieter. You know...not make a song and dance about things."

Jasmine sighed heavily, before glancing over her shoulder in Carrie's direction. Despite herself, the muggle shifted awkwardly where she stood under the invisibility cloak, watching as the witch turned back to Isaac, expression rather apologetic.

"That's all well and good, Sweetheart." she agreed, fiddling absent-mindedly with his hair. "But the thing is...well, the real reason I've come to see you is I want us to make a big song and dance about it. On purpose."

"You...do?" Isaac mumbled, sounding rather alarmed at the prospect, and Carrie felt rather as though she was intruding when the witch leant forward to press a lingering kiss to his lips.

"Mm...I need everybody out there to think we're waltzing off out to lunch together..."

"But...I've got security duties in...ten minutes..."

"Yeah but they don't need to know that. Robert only knows because you swapped with him. I just need them all to think I'm not meant to be here, alright?"

"Why?"

"It's...a bit complicated. But it's important. Very important."

"You're not trying to get one over on Kraft are you, darling? Because if you are...it's really not a good idea to..."

"It's not like that...not exactly..."

"Jas..."

"Have you read the Quibbler article, Isaac?"

"Yes, but..."

"How d'you suppose you'd feel if that were me? How'd you feel if that was me in that cell, getting bloody assaulted and raped by Cain and bloody Mortell?"

"They didn't rape her..."

"Not this time they didn't! But there's always next time, isn't there? There's always today, tomorrow, the day after...take your pick, they're given access to her cell whenever they want to question her! How would you bloody feel, hm?"

There was a sizable pause before Isaac finally uttered the first entirely resolute words Carrie had heard him speak in many long minutes, expression suddenly murderous.

"I'd kill the bastards."

"Exactly!" Wickes murmured fiercely, pausing to kiss him again before announcing: "We've got to do something, love. And that's what I'm going to do." She paused to glance down at his hands that had balled into tight fists, reaching to carefully unclench his fingers, murmuring: "Don't do that, love. Stay calm, eh? Like they always tell you, you need to stay calm, always."

"Yes...yes, I know..." he murmured, voice oddly strained as she reached to stroke his hair again, and then she frowned deeply and asked:

"You did keep calm, didn't you? When...when Tonks spoke to you? You didn't lose your temper with her, did you Sweetheart?"

Isaac's face contorted rather guiltily and he looked purposefully away from her.

"Isaac, love...?" the witch whispered firmly, reaching to grip his arms. "What did you do?"

"Not...not anything much..."

"What did you do?"

"Nothing! Just...it doesn't bloody matter!"

"Alright, alright...I'm...I'm just saying, love. Tonks only ever tries to help you, doesn't she?"  
>"I know, I know..."<p>

"You mustn't ever lash out at her, not ever."

"I know, I know." As Jasmine reached to bury her face in his shoulder with a sigh of relief, Isaac seemed to relax a little, managing a smile. "They've been very good to me, Harry and Tonks." he recalled, reaching to smooth her hair with one hand. "It was better you know, when they were here...I...I was better..."

"You're doing wonderfully well, Isaac. You've not been in trouble for months, I'm dead proud of you. I've always said it, haven't I? You can keep your temper if you just stop and..."

"Count to ten."

"Exactly."

Carrie was beginning to wonder if Jasmine had entirely forgotten that she was supposed to be helping the muggle with her mission, for she pursed her lips together impatiently as the two Aurors paused in their talking to exchange a deep and lingering kiss that Carrie very nearly squeezed her eyes shut at the sight of, until Isaac's face grew wary once again and he admitted:

"I'm...worried, Jas. I'm worried I'm going to get the sack. Now that Harry and Tonks are gone...what if...what if I slip up? What if I...what if I forget to count to ten and...and they're not here to...to defend me before the Wizengamot..."

"Shhhh." Jasmine insisted, hands once again raking reassuringly through his hair. "It's going to be alright, I promise. It will be fine, you just have to stay calm, stay in here when you can, out of people's way. And before you know it, Harry and Tonks will be back!"

"They will?" Isaac asked, sounding distinctly disbelieving, and at long last Jasmine looked over to smile in Carrie's direction, much to the wizard's confusion.

"Oh I believe so." the witch breathed, suddenly grinning. She disentangled herself from his lap and got carefully to her feet, pulling him up after her. "C'mon," she told him, smiling brightly. "What does a girl have to do to pretend to get a coffee around here?"

And so it was that Jasmine Wickes and Isaac Graham wandered out of the Deputy Head of Aurors' office, arms wrapped around one another as if they were joined at the hip, their silent muggle companion hurrying carefully along behind them.

Carrie Winters had very quickly decided that she liked them. Indeed, they reminded her very much of Remus and Dora in more than a few ways. Perhaps Jasmine was a little louder, a little more brash and coarse, but she was certainly similar enough. Isaac and Remus were in several ways similar, the Auror appeared to share several of Remus' mannerisms, though Carrie couldn't help thinking that there was something...not quite right...

Now that Jasmine was not alone, the other Aurors seemed far more keen to abandon whatever they were doing to stare at their office's latest piece of gossip, and a few of them called out to them as they made their way towards the door.

"Oi, oi! What's going on 'ere then?"

"Nice work you're doing there, Isaac mate...haha!"

"Alright Jas? Isaac...ha!"

"Morning lovebirds."

"Morning Robert!" the couple grinned resolutely at each speaker as they walked, only for Isaac to pause to stare curiously over his shoulder Dora's apparent ex-boyfriend, who, Carrie saw, was a broad shouldered man with curly black hair, a chin of stubble and discarded Auror robes over the back of his chair revealing a large tattoo upon one muscular arm of a creature that Carrie couldn't quite place. Carrie had to admit that when she had first met Dora, she had rather expected her husband to look a whole lot more like Robert and less like Remus, and yet now the notion seemed utterly ridiculous to her.

Once she too had stopped staring over her shoulder, Carrie found herself grinning at her substitute-Lupins for a long while, until they were just about to reach Daniel's desk by the door.

When abruptly, they suddenly didn't seem like her substitute-Lupins at all.

"For the love of Merlin, Isaac!" a gruff faced Auror with snow white hair who, Carrie couldn't help but feel, looked as if one good curse would finish him off, grunted as the couple passed his desk. "Put the office broomstick down, will you? She's young enough to be your DAUGHTER!"

And quite suddenly, Isaac stopped dead in his tracks, pulling Jasmine to such an abrupt halt that Carrie narrowly avoided walking into the back of them.

The office fell deadly silent.

Isaac rounded on the white=haired wizard, face contorting in sudden fury that made Carrie take a shocked step backwards.

"What did you just say?" he spat, attempting to pull himself free from Jasmine's grasp as he took a step towards the man. "OFFICE BROOMSTICK?"

"He's only taking the piss, Isaac mate!" the Auror named Robert called, rising quite suddenly to his feet and stepping out from behind his desk. "Leave it, eh?"

But Isaac appeared to have no intention at all of leaving it, Carrie saw. His face appeared to fast be turning a deep shade of scarlet and he attempted to take another step forward, only for Jasmine to cling to arm in an attempt to keep him still.

He looked positively mad, Carrie thought, taking another step backwards, only to jump sideways when Robert hurried forward, very nearly walking into her.

"Isaac love..." Jasmine was whispering hurriedly so that only those very nearby could hear her. "Listen to me, love, leave him alone, don't...don't get yourself into trouble again, eh? We don't want the Wizengamot suspending you, do we? No, we don't want that, let's...let's just go...c'mon...you've got security duties! You don't want to...to be late, eh? Don't want to piss Kraft of, do we? C'mon Sweetheart..."

Isaac reached for his wand...

"NO ISAAC!" Jasmine cried, throwing her arms right around him and attempting to pull his arm down, and Carrie watched in horror as the maddened wizard reached with his free hand to give her a firm shove away from him, leaving her to fall back upon the floor with a muttered curse under her breath. It was at that precise moment that both Robert and Daniel seemingly pounced upon him, Robert yanking the wand from his hand and Daniel dragging him sideways towards the door.

"Alright, mate, let's step outside for a minute...there's no Harry or Tonks to save your arse anymore, so take some deep breaths, eh?"

Carrie stared in bewilderment at the scene as Robert turned and offered Jasmine a hand. She accepted it with a heavy sigh and once she was on her feet again, Robert asked:

"Is he drinking his potions, Jas?"

"I don't bloody know!" the witch snapped, snatching Isaac's wand from his grasp and pocketing it. "It's not his fault! You all keep provoking him!"

"Evidently he's not drinking them." the snowy haired wizard murmured dryly. "If he was he wouldn't be acting like such a nutcase..."

"HE'S NOT A NUTCASE!" Jasmine shrieked, teeth clenched in fury. "It's not his fault the Death Eaters got him! Let's see you take that many Crutiatus Curses and see how you feel, huh? Maybe...maybe if you were all a bit more understanding he wouldn't...wouldn't lose his temper!"

"You're not helping him, Jasmine. You make him worse." the older wizard insisted moodily. "And if Tonks should ever grace us with her presence again, I'll hex her for ever suggesting otherwise. It's not funny, you know, you trying out do her..."

"I don't know what you're talking about..."

"Come on, Jasmine, it's not a competition, you know; who can have the most outrageous relationship!"

"That's ridiculous! I'm not trying to...to..."

"Harry should have sacked Isaac years ago. He's a danger to the department..."

"He's a better bloody Auror than you!"

The wizard gave an infuriating shrug.

"Perhaps he was in his day. But he shouldn't be here anymore. He should be at home with his feet up, on sick pay for the rest of his life."

"He's not sick, his mind's just...just..." The remainder of Jasmine's retort was abruptly lost in the front of Robert's robes as the black haired Auror reached to put his arms around her, crushing her against his chest.

"Shhh. Don't pick fights, Jas." he murmured soothingly, patting her reassuringly on the back. "Go take Isaac somewhere quiet for a bit, calm him down. I don't care to imagine him reporting to Kraft when he's worked up like this."

Once released, Jasmine strode towards the door, reaching to swipe a hand across her eyes before she came to a halt again, turning back to gaze around the office.

"D'you know what?" she said, hands flying furiously to her hips as she scowled at those sat nearest to her. "This is what happens when we lose people! This is what bloody happens when those tossers in their fancy robes and stupid council chamber get it wrong! This is what happens when they kick the last figures of authority this department had left out and try and turn them into villains! If Harry and Tonks were here you'd not dream of being so bloody disrespectful to one another! You'd not dream of provoking Isaac and trying to get him into trouble, you wouldn't accuse me of being the office broomstick, either! I mean come on...office broomstick? That's bloody low! What happened to mass coffee breaks and friendly chit chat and genuine smiles and _hey Jas, where's Isaac taking you for Valentine's Day_? What happened to all of that? What happened to departmental unity? Sure, you scratch the stickers off the office doors, but that's about it! Sitting around on your arses all day, barely making a single arrest and bitching about one another! HARRY AND TONKS WOULD BE ASHAMED OF YOU! And it's not Isaac's bloody fault he wanted to hex Peterson's mouth shut, it's KRAFT'S fault for RUINING our department and turning us into a bunch of squabbling little kids! Go and bitch about him, why don't you? Go and hex his bloody mouth shut instead of doing it to one another!"

And with that, as the entire office continued to stare at her, Jasmine Wickes turned upon a booted heel and stormed out of the office, muttering:

"C'mon Carrie, let's do this."

There was a long silence and as Carrie hurried out of the door after the Auror, she heard the witch sat opposite Daniel's desk ask:

"Who the hell is Carrie?"

"I have no idea..." Robert muttered in reply as he watched the double doors finally swing shut.

Out in the corridor, Carrie was forced to jog to keep up with Jasmine's long strides as they headed for the lift again.

"Well...that went tits up, didn't it?" the Auror muttered furiously, hands balled into tight fists.

"I suppose..." Carrie mumbled awkwardly, not entirely sure what to say for in truth she wasn't entirely sure what had been going on in the first place.

"On the bright side, that's my cover sorted." Jasmine as they came to a stop before the lift, reaching to jab the button upon the wall. "They'll all assume I'm off with Isaac for at least an hour. That should give us ample time to have a good snoop around the Department of Mysteries."

And with that, the lift slid open and they stepped back inside.


	21. Trial and Error

_Note: I'm actually too sleepy and tired to write a note...! So I'll just say I hope you enjoy this chapter! I think I have just two more to write...or maybe just the one...not sure yet...I'm too sleepy to decide! =)_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter._

**21: Trial and Error**

"I know what you're probably thinking." Jasmine said as she led the way down yet another corridor. "Isaac's a lunatic."

"I...don't think that." Carrie lied, feeling herself blush under the invisibility cloak, but Jasmine waved a dismissive hand, narrowly avoiding hitting the muggle in the face.

"Sure you do, everybody does." the Auror muttered, booted steps somewhat stomping. "But he can't help it, you know. He's ill."

"He is?"  
>"Mm. He got captured, you see. During the War by the Death Eaters. They tortured him...messed with his head."<p>

Carrie shuddered at the mere thought.

"Like...like the Longbottoms?" she found herself wondering, though she rather wished she hadn't asked because the question made her shudder again.

"The Longbottoms?" Jasmine mused, frowning a little in consideration. "A little, perhaps...but then again perhaps not..." She gave a small shrug before telling the muggle: "The point is whatever's going on in his head sometimes, Isaac has a heart of gold. He's fiercely loyal to Harry, Tonks and the Auror Department. If I tell him to pretend I'm somewhere I'm not for a few hours it won't matter what Kraft or any of those other Dousers bastards tell him, he won't tell on me, no matter what. The Death Eaters didn't get any information out of him, after all. If Kraft can be more persuasive than them I'll eat my Auror badge."

Carrie found herself nodding at this explanation until she remembered that Jasmine couldn't see her.

"At first," she recalled, a small frown creasing her brow, "when I first saw him...he reminded me of Remus."

Jasmine let out a soft snort of amusement.

"Yeah," she said, glancing towards the muggle and offering the empty space an alarmingly suggestive raised eyebrow. "Me too!"

Carrie chuckled rather awkwardly, gaze upon her shoes.

"I expect that's why Tonks has such a soft spot for him." Jasmine went on, the mischievous expression gone as soon as it had appeared. "Kept him on to do paperwork and organise raids, that sort of thing. Plus he makes a decent cup of tea should she ever fancy one."

"How long have you and him been...together?" Carrie asked, and the Auror frowned deeply.

"I have no idea." she admitted, sniggering at her own uncertainty. "I've known Isaac for ten years, that's when I entered the Auror training scheme you see, when I was eighteen. The first time I saw him was when he came to help Tonks and Ron with some demonstrations. One of the other Auror cadets got a little over enthusiastic when it was his turn to hit Ron with a stinging jinx...managed to smash him through a window, practically split his skull open, and he took the rest of the afternoon off sick! Tonks had to drag him off to see a healer, so Isaac got left in charge of us. He taught us a thing or two about shielding charms. That was when I first noticed him...but of course I didn't speak to him all that much, not for several years. Then there was that incident in Tonks' office...we don't really talk about that..."

"What happened?" Carrie wondered, though she didn't expect much of an answer, but Jasmine consented to explain:

"Harry gave Tonks the pleasure of informing Isaac that he was being officially moved to a permanent desk job...which...upset him, obviously...it's sort of embarrassing, you know, when an Auror gets taken off of active service before they're nearing retirement. And Isaac...well he was utterly gutted. Harry had been burying him under paperwork for months and never assigned him to take part in raids, but of course they had to make it official eventually. For every Auror they have out in the field the department has to pay out a shed load of galleons for complimentary life insurance, what with us having a habit of getting ourselves killed on a regular basis. It wasn't fair for Isaac to benefit from that if he wasn't out in the thick of it, so Tonks had to break the news to him that he was being made an official pen-pusher. Isaac begged her to talk to Harry, try and change his mind, but she said it would be a waste of time...and then...well...Isaac forgot to count to ten..." Jasmine trailed off, sighing heavily and shaking her head. "We all heard it, of course," she recalled reaching to rake a hand through her hair. "I expect half the bloody Ministry did..."

"Heard what?" Carrie asked, feeling a little apprehensive as the two of them rounded a corner and came to an abrupt halt outside of an office door.

"Tonks' desk exploding." Jasmine explained casually, as if desks had a habit of exploding on a daily basis in the Auror Department.

"Exploding...?" Carrie echoed uncertainly, and Jasmine sighed rather impatiently and observed:

"You don't know a whole lot about accidental magical outbursts, do you? Because it WAS an accident...that part was, anyway. Of course half the department flooded into the office to see what the hell was going on and that made Isaac panic even more than he was already. He snapped, thought he was about to get himself stunned or bundled or something...so he drew his wand...which didn't go down well will the others because they all drew THEIR wands..." Again, the Auror trailed off, puffing her cheeks in exasperation at the memory as she slumped sideways to lean against a highly polished tiled wall, hand reaching to rub wearily at her eyes. "Obviously Tonks realised Isaac was having one of his episodes, so she jumped in front of him, shouted at everybody to lower their wands...except Isaac got startled...and...well...that's how Isaac first landed himself in front of the Wizengamot charged with assault on a Ministry Deputy and damage to Ministry property. It's a miracle he didn't get sacked, actually."

"Didn't Dora speak up for him?" Carrie asked with a frown, and Jasmine gave a shrug.

"Well they did send somebody over to Mungo's to talk to her, only Remus told them to leave because she wasn't in any fit state to give a statement. Harry went to the trial, though, managed to persuade the judge not to send Isaac to Azkaban or have him removed from the department. They made him pay an enormous fine, though, because he had to tell them he did it all on purpose because Tonks had pissed him off. Harry said it was better that way, if they'd known it was because he was unstable he would've been out of his job within the blink of an eye." At long last, the grin reappeared on Jasmine's face. "Anyway, I went to visit Tonks in hospital and she suggested I take Isaac out for a drink or something, cheer him up...and...well...we got on pretty well after that...one thing led to another, you know..." Jasmine straightened up, reaching into her pocket to draw out Isaac's wand, and with that she turned and pushed the office door open. A small sigh upon the dark wood read: Security.

The room inside, Carrie discovered as she shuffled along behind the red haired Auror, was not much bigger than a cupboard. It was a dim, cramped space occupied by a mismatched assortment of chairs, in which were sat a small group of extremely bored looking witches and wizards.

"Kraft rope you in too, Jasmine?" a black woman in her mid-thirties asked dully from the chair directly to their left, and Jasmine looked rather smug to tell her:

"Nope, if he tried I'd tell him where to jump!"

"Liar." a familiar voice grunted from the far corner, making Carrie jump. "You like that badge of yours too much, if he told you to jump you'd ask him how high."

Jasmine's eyes instantly narrowed as she turned to look at the Douser who was lounging in a moth-eaten armchair.

"Actually," the Auror said, nose wrinkling at the sight of him, "I think you'll find you're wrong. Because unlike you, Cain, I happen to have what's called a _backbone_." She turned again to face the slumped figure sat to her right, holding out the wand for him to take.

Isaac looked up from his inspection of his boots, his face pale and his expression sagging, depressed.

"Alright, love?" Jasmine greeted, voice the model of cheer as if the incident back at Auror Headquarters had never occurred. "Won't be a whole lot of use to our Lord and Master Ambrose without this now, will you?"

The black witch by the door attempted to stifle a snigger, ducking her head when Cain glanced over at her.

Isaac stared blankly at the wand for a long moment, before rising slowly to his feet, reaching to take hold of Jasmine by the elbow so that he could steer her back towards the door. Once in the doorway he peered at her, eyes scrutinizing.

"Are you alright?" he murmured once they had their back to the others, and as she looked up at him Carrie couldn't help but feel that though pale he looked a lot more relaxed than he had done just a short while beforehand.

"Peachy, you?" Jasmine said, smiling reassuringly, only for his grip upon her elbow to tighten as he whispered:

"I didn't...you're not...well..."

"You didn't hurt me." Jasmine assured him nonchalantly, lips twitching towards another grin as she added: "After all you wouldn't dare would you?"

"Merlin no," he agreed, lips twitching towards a smile of his own. "Like you always say, you'd kick my arse."

"Exactly!" the witch sniggered, and they shared a careful chuckle before his expression was serious again, free hand brushing rather longingly against her fingers before he mumbled:

"I didn't mean to...to push you or...or anything I...I wouldn't...wouldn't ever...you know I wouldn't ever..."

"Shut up, Isaac." Jasmine instructed cheerfully, chancing a brief glance over his shoulder, probably, Carrie suspected, to make sure Cain was watching, before leaning to plant a firm kiss to his lips. "Now take your wand for Merlin's sake, I want to bugger off before Kraft shows up and makes a spectacle of himself again."

"Is he still asking you for coffee?" Isaac asked, looking mildly disgusted by the notion, only for their cosy little discussion to be rudely interrupted by Cain calling loudly:

"Break it up, will you? You're making people feel queasy."

Carrie pursed her lips together in apprehension as Jasmine drew breath to retort, only for Isaac to turn sharply to face the Douser, folding his arms firmly across his chest.

"Maybe we are," the Auror said, expression utterly poisonous. "But not nearly as much as you, eh Cain? At least I don't head over to _Azkaban_ to get my thrills."

A deathly silence descended upon the gathered witches and wizards, everybody suddenly seemed very interested in their shoes and Cain's face visibly drained of colour.

Isaac turned his attention back to Jasmine and took the offered wand.

"Thank you." he murmured as he deposited it into a deep pocket of his Auror robes, and Jasmine mumbled:

"You're welcome."

"Get going, then." he told her, reaching to give her a gentle push towards the corridor outside. "Before Kraft gets here."

"Right..."

"Keep your head down, Sweetheart."

"I'll think about it." Jasmine smirked, but Isaac was seemingly unamused for he turned his back on her and went to slump back down into his seat.

Carrie and Jasmine had barely made it down the corridor and round the corner before Jasmine made a sudden dive for a door to their left, yanking it open an disappearing into what Carrie glimpsed to be a storage cupboard before the door was pushed shut again, and the muggle was about to whisper something suitably bemused after the Auror when she heard footsteps. Carrie turned to see none other than Ambrose Kraft stalking his way along the corridor towards her, walking stick thumping repeatedly against the floor as he walked, and at the sight of him the muggle leapt backwards until her back was pressed to the wall, heart instantly hammering in her chest.

Kraft's face appeared to be contorted into a furious scowl and as he stomped along, at what Carrie was sure was a much brisker pace than he had managed just a few days previously, his dark blue robes billowed out behind him in a suitably dramatic manner for one looking so sour. The Head Douser was muttering furiously under his breath, grip upon his walking stick so tight that the colour had drained from his knuckles until they were a chalky white.

Some distance behind him, another wizard dressed in Douser robes, who Carrie recognised as one of the men she had seen inside Kraft's cottage back in Queenswood, was hurrying along, hands grasped together in front of him in a distinctly nervous manner.

"Ambrose," he called after Kraft rather uncertainly, reluctantly as if he'd much rather not speak at all. "Really, it can't be what it looks like...it...it can't be! I mean...it's impossible!"

"He LAUGHED at me!" Kraft spat, coming to an abrupt halt and turning to glower at the Douser as if it were all his fault, causing the other wizard to hunch his shoulders rather timidly. "The wretched bastard LAUGHED IN MY FACE!"

"I...I don't think he was laughing at _you_..." the other Douser began half-heartedly, but this only seemed to infuriate Kraft more than ever.

"I have BROKEN him!" he half-shrieked, sounding so deranged that it made Carrie flinch. "I have RUINED him! I've locked him up! I have his family scattered! He doesn't know where his son is! His wife is at MY mercy! AND HE HAS THE AUDACITY...THE IMPUDENCE TO _MOCK_ ME!"

The other wizard opened his mouth to say something, but seemingly thought better of it, and Carrie didn't blame him. Kraft was visibly trembling in fury, face flushed red and teeth gritted so hard that the muggle wouldn't have been surprised if he were to chip a tooth or two. For a long moment he simply stood, ragged breaths reduced to an odd snarling noise, and then to Carrie's horror he hissed:

"Fetch her to me."

There was a sizable pause as his fellow Douser merely stared at him in bewilderment.

"What...?" the other wizard mumbled after a moment, and Kraft gave his stick an impatient bang against the marble floor.

"I said fetch her to me!" he snapped, spittle spraying from his mouth as he glowered accusingly at the man again.

"Fetch...her...?"

"Yes, Roderick! Fetch Tonks from her cell and bring her to me! NOW! I'll teach him to bloody mock me..."

Roderick Mortell gave a rather nervous chuckle.

"You can't be serious..." he began, only for Kraft to shriek:

"I AM BEING DEADLY SERIOUS!"

"But...but there's no chance they'll release her into our care now...especially not _mine_..."

Kraft let out a furious growling noise from the back of his throat before he snapped:

"Well perhaps you should have bloody done her when you had the chance! He'd not be bloody laughing at us then, would he?"

"It wasn't my fault, Cain was stalling..."

"Rubbish!" Kraft gave a snort, suddenly smirking. "You were probably too busy squabbling over who got to have her first!" He paused to straighten his robes as Mortell gave a snigger, before instructing: "Find somebody those idiots at Azkaban will trust. Get her to me." And with that he turned on his heel and continued to stomp along the corridor, as Mortell murmured rather uncertainly:

"Yes boss..."

It was not for some minutes, once Kraft had disappeared round the corner and into the Security room and Mortell had retreated back into the lift and there had been a long enough pause for the lift to move to another floor that Jasmine finally dared slip back out into the corridor, pushing the cupboard door firmly shut behind her.

"Shit..." Carrie heard the Auror mutter, reaching to tug rather anxiously at her hair as she gazed down the corridor after Kraft, but then she gave herself a little shake and glanced around searchingly with a whispered: "Carrie...?"

"I'm here." Carrie supplied from just behind her, and the witch gave a little jump.

"Shit!" she muttered again as she spun around towards the sound of the muggle's voice. "Don't do that!"

"Sorry..." Carrie mumbled, only to jump back a little when Jasmine waved a dismissive hand, narrowly avoiding slapping her round the face.

"No, no...it's fine...it's just...well...!" Jasmine gave herself another little shake before turning to lead the way up the corridor, instead settling on: "Forget it, let's go."

They walked briskly up the corridor until the came to a halt before the lift doors, the Auror reaching to jab impatiently at the button on the wall. As they both waited, straining to hear the hum of the approaching lift, Carrie observed:

"It's Dora isn't it? You're worried."

Jasmine frowned deeply, reaching to dust a lingering cobweb from the cupboard off of her sleeve.

"Nah...they'll never get hold of her. Not...not outside of Azkaban, anyway." she decided, voice full of confidence that Carrie couldn't help but feel sounded rather forced.

"But they can get hold of her inside of Azkaban." The muggle pointed out, stomach twisting into knots at the mere thought. "Like...like they did before." It wasn't a subject that Carrie really wished to discuss, she'd rather have blocked her ears and hummed loudly, ignored Kraft and Mortell's exchange entirely. But she hadn't. She couldn't have, not even if she had wanted to. That could have been the end of it, she supposed, but she felt compelled to question Jasmine because the Auror seemed both frank and, when it came to Ambrose Kraft, optimistic about his inadequacy as a true force to be reckoned with.

In all honesty, Carrie was hoping for good news. Some sort of dismissive, reassuringly blunt retort.

But Jasmine merely sighed despairingly and murmured:

"Yes...yes they can."

"D'you...think they will?" Carrie asked, offering one last chance of optimism, only for the Auror to admit:

"There's no doubt." The frown upon the witch's brow deepened considerably as she added: "Especially if Remus has seen fit to provoke them. Merlin...laughing at Ambrose Kraft...really! What's he been thinking? It's bloody mental!"

"Remus wouldn't provoke them on purpose." Carrie insisted, almost offended, only for Jasmine to snort disbelievingly as the doors to the lift finally clicked open. There was a long pause as they both noted that there was nobody in the lift to overhear them, before Jasmine led the way inside and pointed out:

"Remus has been provoking them since Day One, Carrie!"

"Yes but...but he wouldn't anymore, not now! Not when they've got Dora."

"He's in an impossible situation, Carrie. Say too much and it'll piss them off, say too little and it'll really piss them off, say not quite the right thing, say nothing at all, say things in the wrong bloody order and they'll get riled! Quite frankly he might as well laugh at them, for all the difference it'll make in the end." There was a rather long and depressed silence at this observation before Jasmine reached to press another button upon the panel beside the door, expression suddenly hardening. "Still," she murmured, folding her arms across her chest and leaning back against the nearest wall in the same vaguely intimidating manner she had done when Carrie had first happened across her that morning. "We'll all be laughing some time soon. Once we know what they're hiding behind that door."

When they arrived in the long, torch-lined corridor that led into the Department of Mysteries, Carrie found herself feeling far less apprehensive than she had the last time she had ventured down there.

"This place gives me the creeps." Jasmine muttered as she paused to draw her wand, gripping it purposefully in her hand, but nevertheless she set off down the corridor at a brisk pace, the torches upon the walls flaring into life as she passed, casting an eerie blue glow upon the Auror as Carrie hurried along behind her. They made their way to the door at the end of the corridor, and Jasmine reached to cautiously push the door open, peering inside searchingly before pulling it wide open and leading the way inside. Carrie had barely hurried through after her into the circular room when she had reached to close the door firmly behind them, giving her wand a vague wave at the handle. Carrie heard the sound of a lock clicking.

"You might as well take that cloak off." Jasmine suggested, and with another wave and a mutter a large cross of glowing orange materialized upon the door. No sooner had the marker appeared, the walls and doors began to spin, and Carrie paused midway through pulling the invisibility cloak from her shoulders to screw her eyes shut at the nauseating movement.

Jasmine seemed entirely unfazed by it all, for she turned around to offer Carrie a grin, reaching to push the sleeves of her robes up to her elbows in a distinctly business-like manner.

"Doesn't look like any of them are covered in blood." she observed, having cast a critical look about them at each of the doors. "Somebody must've cleaned it up. Looks like a bit of trial and error is called for." she said, and with that the two of them set about testing each handle to find that which was locked, the witch marking each unsuccessful attempt with a glowing cross.

As they worked their way around the room, pausing once in a while as the wall gave another spin, it occurred to Carrie that for every handle they reached for, for every fresh cross emblazoned upon a door, she was getting steadily closer to her goal, steadily closer to discovering the Dousers' secret...

At first she felt something akin to excitement bubbling up inside of her, ready to burst forth in victorious triumph when the moment finally came for her to throw open the door to reveal the truth. But then the muggle began to consider what she might find behind the door.

What was Ambrose Kraft truly up to?

Judging from all of the activities that he was privy to that he didn't feel the need to keep secret, Carrie couldn't help but feel that whatever it was, she wasn't going to like it. Indeed, the mere thought of discovering the truth made her stomach twist uncomfortably and she found herself feeling rather sick.

What if she were to open the door and find something truly disturbing like a dead body, or something truly terrifying; perhaps a fierce monster of some kind that might leap out and attack her...

But of course, Carrie told herself as she managed to open another door, hastily pulling it shut without so much as a glance to see what lay behind it, that was just silly, downright childish, she ought not be thinking such stupid things now that she was focused on such an important mission. Now was no time to revert to old and infantile habits.

And besides, the muggle told herself sternly, only to pause to jump backwards a little when a spell shot over her shoulder and struck the door, marking it with yet another large cross, if there truly was something threatening behind the locked door, at least she had Jasmine around to protect her. That had to be at least a little comforting...

Carrie had seemingly acquired herself a new guardian angel, a new fearless wonder, and she very nearly smiled at the thought because there was no doubt about it, Jasmine Wickes was, as Cleo Clancy would once again put it: Bloody fearless!

And yet Jasmine lacked some of the essential and most valuable qualities of Carrie's most trusted guardians.

She hadn't mastered Legimency, for one thing.

That probably wasn't an entirely fair criticism, Carrie supposed as Jasmine reached for another door, only to whip her hand back again when the walls began to move, because if one were going to talk technicalities, which was only reasonable, neither Remus or Dora had ever gone as far as to read Carrie's mind. Indeed, as far as she was aware neither of them were even capable...

At least that was the muggle's assumption...

For a rather happy moment, Carrie allowed her mind to wander as she contemplated the possibility that the two Lupins might possess such awe-inspiring abilities and she felt rather as though she were eleven years old again, marveling at levitated objects and disappearing wizards...

Until she concluded that, judging from what she knew about Legimency, which wasn't actually a whole lot, it seemed rather unlikely that mind reading was truly part of either Remus or Dora's forte.

Which was fine by Carrie, in all honesty, because their ability to simply guess what was going through her mind was a more than adequate substitute, not to mention that this way it was nice to know she might have a private thought or two once in a while at the very least.

Carrie sorely missed having somebody there who understood her, who knew what she was likely to be thinking, because without such a person there was nobody to try and reassure her or calm her nerves...unless she counted herself, which seemed somewhat pointless because she wasn't terribly good at reasoning with herself at the best of times.

And this definitely wasn't the best of times.

Absolutely not.

Another wondrous quality that Jasmine lacked was the right kind of confidence. That was to say, she was definitely confident...she just didn't quite go about being confident in quite the right way.

She was very business-like and professional, very efficient, and though Carrie would admit these to all be good things, they simply weren't quite good enough.

She missed Remus' almost bizarre casualness. She missed his lazy wand movements and perfectly neutral and composed expressions, made entirely plausible and comfortable by calculating and considering eyes darting carefully about his surroundings. She missed his mild interest at the possibility of peril, his unshakable reasoning in the face of danger.

She missed Dora's blasé nature that was just enough removed from Jasmine's downright recklessness so as not to make Carrie nervous. She missed the inappropriate jokes that would surface at times only marginally sensible, the comments that Carrie knew it was safe to giggle at because underneath it all she knew that Dora was one hundred and ten percent dependable.

It wasn't that Carrie didn't think Jasmine was in any way unreliable...

Except it was. Because Jasmine wasn't Dora. Carrie hadn't known her for years, she'd known her for less than a couple of hours, she didn't know her habits, her precise nature, she couldn't be entirely confident about predicting her...

And that was rather troubling. Especially when at times Jasmine and Dora were so very alike that for a brief second Carrie would forget which Auror she was speaking to and then she would be forced to give herself a little shake and remind herself to concentrate, think, try and understand her.

Understand _Jasmine_. Not Dora.

Thinking of all she missed about Remus and Dora, Carrie supposed she might as well go as far as to admit she simply missed_ them_. She missed the sound of their voices, she missed their smiles, she missed talking to them, laughing with them, laughing _at_ them, crying into their shoulders, being reassured by them, comforted by them...Merlin she even missed _spying_ on them from time to time!

She missed Dora calling her love as if they were family, she missed Remus calling her Sweetheart as if she truly were his daughter, which was in actual fact rather ludicrous because as far as she could recall the werewolf had only ever once referred to her in such a way – when her parents had been Obliviated – and at all other times Sweetheart had referred to Dora and Dora alone. And yet Carrie didn't feel she was being ludicrous at all...

She wanted them back. Desperately.

The full force of this desperation was rather like a dagger to her heart, and Carrie found herself speeding up, slamming a few doors shut in frustration when she found them to be unlocked.

_Not long now_, she assured herself as Jasmine marked another door. _Only a few left_...

Carrie stepped up to another door, only to pause before it, staring at the handle in apprehension.

What if, she thought despairingly, she were to open the door and find...nothing?

What if she didn't find anything useful, what if it wasn't the big breakthrough the Order seemed to think it was, what if it didn't make a difference?

The muggle found herself thinking back to Kraft and Mortell in the corridor upstairs, of the scattered Order of the Phoenix, of Jasmine and Isaac's grim talk of Dora in Azkaban, of the Auror Department in disarray and of Harry and Kingsley still missing without a trace...

What if she opened the door and nothing changed? Nothing was better?

So much hope was pinned on this one little mission. Carrie wasn't sure she could stand it if it were to all come to nothing.

As she bit down apprehensively upon her lip, Carrie felt Jasmine step up next to her.

"Any luck?" the Auror asked, apparently entirely oblivious to Carrie's sudden panic, and with that she reached forward to grasp hold of the door handle and pulled it down...

Only to find it locked tightly shut.

Carrie's heart gave a lurch at the realisation that they had finally found the right door, and Jasmine grinned broadly.

"Ah-ha!" the Auror declared triumphantly, only for there to come a sudden hissing noise leaving her to yank her hand away from the handle with a cry of: "OUCH!"

And before Carrie could open her mouth to say a word they both gave a startled jump at the sudden sound of an alarm bells blaring, the sound so shrill that it made Carrie's ears ring, her heart hammering in her chest in panic as Jasmine shrieked:  
>"SHIT! SECURITY!"<p>

Carrie felt herself tense up in fear, only for Jasmine to seize her by the wrist, yanking her arm forward and raising her wand.

"Why...what...what set it off?" Carrie finally managed to shout above the relentless sound, and the Auror shook her head dismissively.

"Merlin knows why, maybe the door has a thing for witches!" she shouted. "Now hold still for Merlin's sake!"

Before Carrie could open her mouth to ask why there was a bright flash of light and she felt a sudden pain in the palm of her hand that very nearly made her shriek in surprise. Before she could quite fathom what had happened, she found herself being pushed towards the door.

"Go on, quickly!" Jasmine demanded, as they both jumped to hear the sound of somebody attempting to wrench open the door Jasmine had sealed shut behind them. "They'll be in here any second!"

And Carrie glanced down to see a deep gash upon her palm, crimson blood already leaking steadily from the wound, staining her pale skin an ugly red.

"HURRY!" Jasmine cried, and without much thought, Carrie lunged forward to grasp hold of the door handle with her bloody hand, pulling it down just as Jasmine had done a moment earlier.

The door clicked open and without so much as a glance inside, Carrie dived through the doorway, stumbling over the threshold until she over balanced and fell to her knees. The door swung itself firmly closed behind her, just as an almighty crash sounded from the circular room outside. Heart still pounding, Carrie scrambled back onto her feet, ignoring the searing pain in her hand so that she could turn and stoop, holding her breath in anticipation as she squinted back through the keyhole...

Just in time to see Ambrose Kraft, flanked by an assortment of witches and wizards whom Carrie couldn't quite make out, stride through the remains of the door that he had just blasted open, his along with half a dozen other wands pointed directly at Jasmine's chest as she spun around to face them.

Jasmine Wickes froze.

Ambrose Kraft's mood appeared to have improved considerably since Carrie had last glimpsed him, for he was positively beaming with triumph.

"Well, well, well, Wickes!" the head Douser drawled mockingly as he swaggered further into the room. "Fancy seeing you here!"

Carrie was just about to swallow the horrified lump in her throat when she heard movement in the room behind her, and she was just about to spin around with a gasp of panic when a hoarse, rather weak and yet stunningly familiar voice called from the darkness:

"_Carrie_? Is...is that you...?"


	22. Uprising

_Note: Since this chapter is getting very long indeed, I'm going to write an epilogue rather than tag the final scenes on the end here._

_Thanks to everybody who reviewed the last chapter, I hope you enjoy this too!_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor am I making any profit from this piece of writing._

**22: Uprising**

Carrie Winters drew back from the door and slowly turned around, jaw dropping open in shock.

And there, across the room room from her, gloriously visible to her squinting eyes through the darkness, midway through scrambling up into a sitting position from where he lay sprawled upon the cold marble floor, was none other than Harry Potter.

Over a month at the mercy of Ambrose Kraft and the Dousers had left the Head of Aurors ghostly pale and sickly, and he appeared to have lost an alarming amount of weight, for his grubby robes, the very same Phoenix Day regalia that he had worn the day he had been snatched away from Hogwarts, hung loosely from his frame, his shoulder and elbows angular and pointy. He was wearing a very bent pair of glasses with a missing lens and was sporting such an impressive growth of stubble upon his chin that had it not been for his voice Carrie might have failed to recognise him. Thick and heavy chains had been clamped around his wrists and ankles, the other ends of which had been secured to a large metal ring upon the floor.

"Please tell me you've got Remus or Tonks or somebody out there." he murmured hoarsely after she had failed to speak for a long moment, only managing to stare at him instead. "Please...please don't tell me it's only you...that the Dousers got you..."

"Y...you're...alive!" Carrie finally managed to squeak, reaching to clamp a hand to her mouth as the triumph began to bubble up inside of her. "I...I did it! I...I've found you!"

"Kingsley!" Harry called, turning stiffly to look over his shoulder into the darkness. "Hey Kingsley, it's Carrie! Carrie's here!"

Carrie heard movement further back in the darkness, the shifting of chains, only for a shrill voice from outside of the room to shriek:

"WELL? WHAT ARE YOU ALL WAITING FOR?"

"What's going on out there?" Harry asked, turning back to peer at the door, and as soon as the triumph had come it was gone, replaced by a sickening sense of panic as Carrie spun back around towards the door, stooping to peer back out through the keyhole.

At long last the shrill alarm bells had stopped ringing. The witches and wizards who had flooded into the room after Kraft had formed a hasty line in front of the Head Douser, their wands all still pointing firmly at Jasmine, who didn't quite seem entirely sure who to point her wand at first. Lips pursed together apprehensively, Carrie looked the line of the Auror's opposition up and down, and after glancing at just a few faces it suddenly occurred to her that she knew who these people were, indeed she recognised several of them. Stood on one end of the line was the black witch who had spoken to Jasmine when she had gone to return Isaac's wand, and after a wizard dressed in black and a navy robed Douser who Carrie had never seen before, the next in line was Cain...

And there, stood directly in front of Kraft at the center of it all, his wand raised along with the others, was Isaac. He was staring intently at his girlfriend, expression surprisingly unmoved by her predicament, his lips twitching and curving into silent words that, if she squinted, Carrie could just about make out...

_...three...four...five..._

Jasmine gave up her frantic search for some form of escape, eyes coming to rest upon Isaac instead as Kraft gave an impatient snort, banging his walking stick against the floor as he screeched:

"STUN HER!"

The black witch at the end of the line flinched, aim wavering a little, but then the Douser stood beside Cain obediently raised his wand...

Only to hesitate when Isaac abruptly leapt forward out of the line, turning to plant himself at Jasmine's side, wand pointing directly at the Douser's face.

Kraft's expression grew incredulous that somebody had been as bold as to defy him, but nevertheless he gave a mocking chuckle and asked:

"What's this then, another little uprising? Don't be so pathetic, Graham..."

"That's exactly what it is." Isaac interrupted, grip upon his wand tightening. "Give up now, Kraft. Whilst you still can."

Kraft smirked.

"Think you're going to stop me, do you?" he jeered as the assembled witches and wizards dared to exchange a glance or two. "Think you're going to succeed where the Order of the Phoenix is failing?"

"I certainly do." Isaac confirmed, wand coming to point directly at the Head Douser's face, and Kraft let out a cackling laugh.

"Oh really? Just the two of you?"

"Not the two of us, no..."

"You and whose army, then?" Kraft was positively glowing with glee and he laughed harder still when Isaac began to look around at the others rather searchingly.

To Carrie's surprise, Isaac's gaze came to rest upon Cain.

"Cain...please...?" he murmured pleadingly, and as Cain gave a little jump at having been singled out, Kraft gave his stick another stamp, the laughter dying on his face.

"This is ridiculous!" he snapped, teeth gritted in fury as he shrieked: "STUN BOTH OF THEM!"

But nobody moved.

"Cain...!" Isaac tried again, eyes widening desperately. "Help us..."

"You're wasting your breath!" Kraft spat, as Cain's gaze dropped to his boots, but Isaac ignored him.

"Come on, Cain! Are you an Auror or not?" he demanded to know, only for Kraft to snap:

"NOT! He LEFT you to join my department..."

"He's still a qualified Auror." Isaac reasoned, as beside him Jasmine too stared at Cain intently. "And that makes him one of us. So come on, Cain...where's your sense of departmental loyalty gone? It's in there somewhere, I'm sure it is...Tonks always saw it...don't make her and Harry ashamed of you..."

"ENOUGH!" Kraft cried, and with that he began to stride purposefully forward, reaching to grasp hold of Cain by the shoulder so that he could push him aside, but at that moment there was sudden movement in the line.

The black witch at the end had taken a rather hesitant step forward, and Carrie watched with bated breath as she glanced nervously at Kraft and the Dousers beside him before hurrying forward to stand at Jasmine's other side, wand raised.

And then the wizard in black robes stepped forward too, and then the witch stood beside Cain, and a wizard with a thick ginger beard...

Slowly but surely the line of Kraft's Security squad was broken, and before long Kraft was stood with just Cain and a trio of Dousers gathered around him, half a dozen wands aimed directly at their faces.

Jasmine Wickes took the smallest of steps forward. Expression steely, she reached into the pocket of her robes to draw out her Auror ID badge, holding it out for Kraft to see.

"Auror Department and Magical Law Enforcement." she stated coolly. "Surrender your wands and you won't get hurt."

There was a long silence as both sides seemingly considered their options, and Carrie felt a sudden urge to shout encouragement through the keyhole, only for Harry's voice to ask:

"What's happening out there?"

Carrie couldn't bear to tear her eyes away from the silent tableau, her heart hammering in anticipation in her chest.

"Something magnificent." she managed to breath...

_BANG! _

A bright flash of red light had exploded from Kraft's wand, shooting forwards towards Isaac's chest, only to be deflected with a sharp swipe of the Auror's wand. In retaliation, Jasmine and the witch stood beside her each sent a spell streaking back at the Head Douser, only for a couple of his followers to deflect them too, one of which rebounded back, striking the black witch in the shoulder. As she crumpled to the floor with a shout, a full-scale battle broke out between the Dousers and the rebels, and Carrie shuffled rather nervously back at the explosion of spells.

"They're...they're all fighting." she called back to Harry as she watched Isaac send Kraft's walking stick flying from his hand, narrowly avoiding hitting a fleeing Cain in the head as it clattered against a nearby wall. "Jasmine Wickes and Isaac Graham...and...some others, they're fighting with Kraft and Cain and some of the Dousers."

"Who's winning?" the deep yet croaky voice of Kingsley Shacklebolt inquired, and Carrie spun around to find him crawling upon all fours to Harry's side.

He appeared to be dressed in a dark set of crumpled green pyjamas, perhaps, the muggle mused, the Dousers had snatched him from his bed the night before the parade. There were dark circles under his eyes and he too looked but a shadow of his usually broad shouldered and healthy self as he struggled against the heavy chains that had been clamped about his ankles and wrists. The sight of him made Carrie shudder, so she hastily turned her attention back to the door.

"Um..." she mumbled, squinting through the keyhole. "I...I'm not really sure..."

The fighters had very quickly managed to pair themselves off with one another, engrossed in their own duels. Jasmine was still stood by the door in front of Carrie, wand swiping so fast and furious through the air that it seemed to blur before Carrie's eyes as the Auror fought the Douser who had first moved to obey Kraft's demands that he stun her. The Douser in question was dodging wildly from side to side, his face contorted in concentration. The bearded wizard was chasing after another Douser who was prancing around quite alarmingly, and Carrie might have sniggered at him were it not for the stunning spell that struck the bearded man in the chest, hurling him off his feet and into a corner. The wizard in the black robes paused in his own duel to send a furious jet of blue light streaking across the room, striking the triumphant Douser in the spine, and Carrie flinched as he let out a high pitched shriek of agony, crumpling to the floor as if the very bones in his back had disintegrated. Carrie immediately thought of Hestia Jones and the sight instantly made her feel sick.

Movement to the left drew the muggle's attention and she shifted to try and look sideways, in time to see the injured witch who had been hit by her own rebounding curse struggle into a sitting position, wand still grasped tightly in her hand. She took somewhat shaky aim and sent a burst of purple light across the room, and Carrie followed the spell as it missed it's target, striking one of the doors upon the wall with a bang.

It's target, Carrie noticed, was a navy-clad figure who had flattened himself up against the wall, his face white in horror as he stared around at the battle.

Cain gave a startled jump at his near miss, but failed to retaliate. Instead he shuffled sideways, away from the witch's second hex, only to freeze when Isaac came flying backwards, back colliding with the wall beside the Douser with such force that the Auror very nearly lost his balance.

"GET HIM, CAIN!" Kraft shrieked as he limped towards the pair, and he was just raising his wand to curse Isaac again when Isaac raised his own wand and bellowed:

"IMPENDIMENTA!"

The spell struck Kraft in the stomach and he made to double over with a grunt, only for the movement to become slow and stiff, his eyes widening in pain as he demanded:

"Cain...!"

At long last, Cain straightened up and made to raise his wand, only for Isaac to hurl himself sideways, throwing his arms about his former colleague's middle, sending the two of them crashing to the ground. As a struggle ensued, a bright flash of red signaled the end of Jasmine's duel as her opponent slumped to the floor, out cold, and as she turned to look searchingly around her, the witch's eyes came to rest upon Isaac and Cain's scuffling struggle.

Isaac was just dragging Cain up from the floor by the scruff of his neck, slamming him down again and causing him to let out a pained yelp as he cracked his head against the dark marble floor, when both Carrie and Jasmine caught sight of Ambrose Kraft finally taking fresh aim...

Carrie felt the breath catch in her throat in panic as Jasmine shouted:  
>"ISAAC!"<p>

Isaac managed to jerk his arm backwards, sending a jinx flying at Kraft's feet. It struck him feebly in the ankle, and the Head Douser stumbled just long enough for Jasmine to hit him from behind with a stinging hex to the shoulder. Meanwhile, Cain had taken Isaac's momentary distraction as the perfect opportunity to reach up and clamp his hands over Isaac's face, fingers grasping at the Auror's hair as with a strained grunt he hauled him from atop him, sending Isaac rolling off onto the floor with a muttered curse. Carrie felt panic rise in her chest as Cain scrambled to his feet, snatching up his discarded wand...

Kraft had turned towards Jasmine, firing a rapid succession of stunning spells that she was forced to dive sideways to avoid, and yet Carrie barely noticed the witch's predicament for her eyes were fixed upon Cain as he took a stumbling step forward, gazing down at Isaac who lay sprawled upon the floor, chest rising and falling rapidly as he gasped for breath...

Carrie felt dread seize her as she reached to grasp fistfuls of hair in agitation...

_No, don't kill him_, she pleaded silently, _please, please don't kill him_...

"JAS..." Isaac coughed, arm flailing wildly in a desperate attempt to grasp hold of his dropped wand, and Cain paused to glance back towards Jasmine, who had just deflected one of Kraft's curses that shot off across the room, striking one of the few remaining Dousers in the back of the head, just as the man in question managed to stun the wizard in the black robes.

Jasmine was seemingly distracted from her battle with Kraft as her gaze came to rest upon Isaac and Cain, her face falling in panic at the sight of Isaac's plight, and she drew breath to shriek a protest at the Douser...

THUD!

Kraft's latest spell struck her in the side, throwing her sideways and onto the floor, and though she let out a hiss of pain her eyes did not leave the scene before her as Cain turned to look down at Isaac again.

"NO!" Jasmine cried, eyes wide in horror as the Douser raised his wand...

Only to hesitate...

"DO IT!" Kraft demanded, voice high in triumph, and Cain drew in a deep breath...

Carrie felt as though her heart had stopped dead in her chest...

But then, to the muggle's shock, Cain spun around, his back to Isaac as he took precise aim and shouted:

"STUPEFY!"

And both Isaac and Jasmine watched in shock as the spell streaked forward...

Striking Ambrose Kraft square in the chest.

The Head Douser's eyes widened in surprise as he was launched backwards off his feet, and Carrie leapt back in alarm as his limp body collided with the door in front of her with a loud thud.

"What was that?" Harry hissed, but Carrie felt far too shocked by the sudden turn of events to grace him with an answer.

Silence descended upon the circular room as Jasmine and Isaac both stared at Cain in silence. Cain didn't seem to know quite what to do with himself, he reached to tug rather nervously at his hair and at this slight movement Jasmine seemed to snap out of her daze. She scrambled to her feet with a wince and hurried over to where Isaac lay, dropping to her knees beside him.

"Alright love?" she murmured as Isaac continued to stare, only to blink a little at the sound of the witch's voice.

"Mm..." he mumbled, only for Cain to turn to him, stooping to offer him a hand.

"Here..." the Douser said nervously, only for Jasmine to snap:

"I've got him!"

Cain recoiled back a few steps, as if she had struck him. As Jasmine set about helping Isaac back onto his feet, the Douser's face contorted rather pleadingly as he protested:

"Listen...I...I know what you think but...but I never touched Tonks! Not...not a hair on her head, not once! A...and..."

"Remus says differently!" Jasmine spat as Isaac finally managed to plant both feet firmly upon the floor, and Cain reached to grasp fistfuls of hair in agitation as he cried:

"REMUS WASN'T THERE! I...I might've said...might've hinted but...but I never touched her! And...and I've not hexed a single one of you here! Not a single one!"

"What's your bloody point?" Jasmine asked furiously. "You BETRAYED US..."

"Jasmine..." Isaac hissed, reaching to put a firm hand upon the witch's elbow, only for Cain to gesture rather wildly towards the door that Carrie was hidden behind.

"I JUST CURSED KRAFT, FOR MERLIN'S SAKE!"

"What d'you want, a bloody medal? You should've been with us from the start, Cain, not just when it bloody suited you..."

"Jas!"

Jasmine was forced to bite her tongue against hurling more abuse at the Douser, who Carrie couldn't help but feel looked as though he might just burst into tears...

"Merlin..." the muggle muttered aloud, only for Kingsley to call:

"Carrie?"

And quite suddenly Carrie realised that the battle was over...and she'd found Harry and Kingsley!

She reached to seize hold of the door handle, flinging the door open wide and making Cain very nearly jump out of his skin as she announced to the room at large:

"I FOUND THEM! I FOUND HARRY AND KINGSLEY!"

Isaac and Jasmine both turned to stare over at her, eyes wide in disbelief.

"Who's that?" Isaac wondered after a pause, as if it had taken him a moment to realise that he had in actual fact never seen her before, but he was cut off by Jasmine exclamation of:

"You've got to be bloody kidding me!" With that, the witch seized Isaac by the hand and they rushed towards the door, leaving Cain to stare after them, expression sombre.

Carrie held the door open wide and the two Aurors skidded through the doorway, squinting searchingly through the darkness until their eyes came to rest upon the two shackled wizards upon the floor.

"Sweet Merlin..." Isaac breathed as Kingsley Shacklebolt and Harry Potter both stared up at him, broad grins tugging at their tired faces, and Jasmine seemed stunned into silence for a second or two before she finally greeted:

"Alright Boss, alright Guv'ner?"

"Alright Jas?" Harry murmured as he shifted into a more upright position and raised his hands to show her his chains. "Wouldn't mind doing me a favour, would you?"

Jasmine practically skipped across the room, and Carrie watched, beaming with joy as she watched the witch set about undoing the chains with a series of mutterings and waves of her wand.

Isaac went to crouch beside Kingsley, eying him critically for a long moment before clearing his throat and saying:

"Nice pyjamas, Minister."

"Thank you." Kingsley chuckled, holding out his hands out so that the Auror could get at the chains.

"We're going to have Kraft's head on a pole for this." Jasmine muttered darkly as she carefully pulled the chains free from Harry's wrists, making him wince. "Well...after Tonks we were going to anyway, but of course now it'll be even more satisfying..."

"What are you talking about?" Harry asked, gaze snapping up to look at the witch's face in alarm. "What's he done with Tonks?"

"I shouldn't worry about Tonks." Isaac interrupted when Jasmine opened her mouth to no doubt rant about the one topic of conversation that disgusted her more than any other. "She and Remus will be fine, just as long as you call for their release from Azkaban as quickly as possible." Ignoring the alarmed expressions on both Harry and Kingsley's faces, he added: "Besides, what's happened to you is far more interesting."

As he shifted his feet so that Isaac could get at the shackles, Kingsley sighed heavily, expression suddenly grim.

"They came for me during the night. It must have been...two...three in the morning. I was sleeping, I have no idea how they broke through the wards but they did...they brought me straight here...chained me up. And then the next thing I knew...Harry was here..."

"They caught me by surprise when I was walking by the lake at Hogwarts after the parade." Harry recalled, sounding distinctly annoyed at his lack of vigilance. "They pinned me to the grass by the bank...dunked my head in the water and held it there until I passed out...I woke up in here."

"And this is where we've been ever since. We knew who was behind it all, of course, but we've not seen him, we've not seen Kraft or any other witch and wizard for that matter. We only see the muggles. They come down here...perhaps once a day or so...they're able to unlock the door, you see, they're the only ones so that nobody would find us. Kraft would send them down with a bag with a bottle of water and a few scraps of bread or whatever was left over at the canteen upstairs."

"I don't know why he bothered." Harry muttered. "We're still starving..."

"My guess is that he thought we might become useful to him in the future." Kingsley said, frowning at the thought. "Perhaps...under the Imperius Curse...I am not sure. We've learnt very little about what has been happening from the muggles...we know Remus and Tonks recalled the Order, that the muggles are being obliviated, but other than that..." he trailed off with a shrug, just as the chains came free from his ankles and he took a moment to flex his ankles back and forth, sighing with relief at the movement.

"Do you think you can stand?" Isaac asked him. "We really must get you to St. Mungo's."

Harry gave a snort as he allowed Jasmine to help him to his feet.

"We're not going to St. Mungo's!" he said, and as he pulled Kingsley up from the floor Isaac opened his mouth to protest, only for the Minister to agree:

"No, we're certainly not. We've somewhere far more important to go first."

And so it was that Carrie Winters found herself shuffling along behind Minister for Magic Kingsley Shacklebolt and Head of Aurors Harry Potter, flanked by two Aurors and a stray Douser skulking along at the very back, as they made their slow and stumbling progression out of the Department of Mysteries, down a long and winding staircase to the high ceiling corridor that led to the Ministry's courtrooms. They passed a great number of doors until they reached a set of double doors the end of the corridor, and Carrie watched, heart pounding in her chest as Kingsley and Harry grasped hold of a door handle each. And then, with a brief nod, the Minister and the Head of Aurors flung open the doors to the Wizengamot High Chamber and staggered across the threshold into the vast courtroom, where a mass of witches and wizards dressed in plum coloured robes and matching hats were in the middle of listening to one of their number droning on about a subject Carrie didn't quite catch wind of...

Because silence instantly fell over the room.

As the Wizengamot collectively stared at the sudden and bedraggled reappearance of their leader and one of his Heads of Department, Kingsley reached to straighten the collar of his filthy pyjamas, before turning to look at the court scribe who had dropped his elaborate quill pen to the floor, splattering ink upon the highly polished marble.

"You there," the Minister for Magic called, making the man jump at being addressed. "Go to my office and fetch me my office robes and that ridiculously oversized hat you all seem to think should be part of my uniform! And on your way back you can fetch Mr. Potter and myself a cup of coffee! Black. No sugar."

And with that, as all eyes in the room continued to stare at him in shock, the Minister set about stumbling up the nearby flight of steps to his designated chair, bare feet slapping loudly against the marble.

Carrie wanted to laugh, and she failed to suppress a giggle a moment later when Harry shuffled over to a line of witches and wizards and informed a man dressed in navy Douser robes in a distinctly impatient tone:

"You're in my seat."

* * *

><p>Carrie Winters sat upon the edge of her bed, staring impatiently out of the window, down towards the car park far below, before chancing a glance at the clock upon her bedside table.<p>

Apparently the hands hadn't moved since the last time she had looked.

"Carrie!" At the sound of her Aunt Susan's voice in the kitchen next door, the muggle gave a little jump. She had been so lost in her thoughts that she had quite forgotten that her aunt was home from work. "Your tea's getting cold!"

"I'll be right there!" Carrie called, and then she promptly went back to staring out of the window.

Half an hour. Just half an hour left to wait, and then the big moment would be here.

Carrie had been waiting for the Big Moment for three very long and very confusing weeks. There were two main reasons why she had spent practically every waking moment since Kingsley and Harry's dramatic entrance to the Wizengamot feeling rather confused.

The first reason was the fact that she had very quickly found herself deposited back into the Muggle World, in the care of an aunt whose name she did not recall in the slightest. Apparently Aunt Susan was Carrie's mother's older sister and she had often come to Carrie's house for tea and cake in the back garden, something she particularly enjoyed because she did not have a garden of her own.

Aunt Susan lived in a tall block of flats on the other side of town, just down the road from the notorious Eddington High School. The flat had two box-like bedrooms, a cramped kitchen and a marginally bigger sitting room that Carrie had spent the last few weeks attempting to avoid, because she was worried she might be forced to sit and have a long talk with a complete and utter stranger, who it just so happened had been her favorite auntie since she had been a very small child. Aunt Susan, who was under the impression that her sister and brother-in-law had been involved in a terrible car accident that had caused them both severe brain damage, had made several attempts to have a heart to heart with her niece about the terrible incident, but Carrie had taken to hiding in her room to avoid such conversations and consequently by now they were beginning to come to some sort of mutual understanding: don't talk.

Carrie's brothers had gone to stay with their cousins in a neighboring town, which at first Carrie had been glad of because she supposed having two more strangers to pretend to know well would only make life more complicated. But come the third week, Carrie was beginning to get lonely.

Which led on to the second reason why the muggle was finding the world to be a very confusing place indeed; having spent such a long time being entirely immersed in the Magical World, she had suddenly found herself feeling very much cut off from it.

She had received frequent owls with letters from Teddy for the first two weeks, bringing news of improvements at the Ministry and of the Order members. He had written the day she had first arrived at her aunt's flat to inform her that Remus and Dora had been transferred from Azkaban to St. Mungo's, all criminal charges dropped, and that Hestia and Fleur had also been admitted into the hospital. The youngest Lupin had popped round for the occasional cup of tea, but spent the majority of his time split between St. Mungo's and his grandmother's house. His brief visits being her only true contact with magic, Carrie had felt terribly isolated, especially when she had begged him to take her with him to the hospital to visit his parents and he had refused.

_Mum's in no fit state for visitors,_ he'd explained, _they only let me peer through the door at her, and __Dad refuses._

_Refuses?_ Carrie had repeated in bemusement, and Teddy had nodded and told her:

_He pretends to be asleep whenever anybody goes in to see him_.

Teddy had gone on to tell her that, having wandered down to speak with Griselda Gushwood at the Welcome Desk the previous afternoon, he had asked after Carrie's own parents and the witch had informed him that she would be writing to Carrie in the following weeks to invite her to visit the Spell Damage Ward. Apparently the healers were confident that her parents might at least be able to recognise her as Caroline, if not much else. Carrie had felt strangely unmoved by this shred of news, which had made her feel yet more confused than ever.

And then, just two days earlier Carrie's usual and rather awkward breakfast with Aunt Susan had been interrupted by the arrival of Teddy, who had brought Carrie the best news that the muggle had heard for days:

Remus and Dora were both to be discharged from St. Mungo's at six o'clock that evening.

Teddy had apparated Carrie over to the Lupins' house as soon as she had abandoned her bowl of cornflakes, where something akin to a military operation appeared to be in full swing. The Order of the Phoenix had descended upon the house en mass to unpack countless boxes and trunks that they had brought back from Grimmauld Place, and Carrie had spent a very enjoyable morning helping to put the house back to the way it had been before the family had abandoned it some two months previously.

And once he had apparated her home in time for lunch, Teddy had promised to come back in a couple of days, once Remus and Dora had been settled, so that she could finally see them for the first time in weeks.

The big day had arrived, overcast and threatening rain, which hadn't dampened Carrie's spirits in the slightest, especially when she had been awoken by the sound of something tapping on her bedroom window. She had recognised Remus' owl Godric immediately and had hurried to push open the window to let him inside. He had carried a rather messily folded sheet of parchment upon which were written two words in Remus' careful script that had made Carrie laugh out loud:

_Bring chocolate._

Carrie had wasted no time in getting dressed and, skipping breakfast entirely, she had headed to the nearby corner shop to purchase the biggest bar of chocolate that she could lay her hands upon. Not entirely convinced it was big enough, she bought a second bar, just in case.

And then she'd spent the rest of the day waiting.

And waiting.

And waiting.

Carrie leant forward until her forehead came to rest against the cool glass of the window, her breath gathering in a soft fog upon the pane.

It felt as though she had been waiting forever.

Once she had arrived back from the shops, where she had picked up a box of cat treats at the pet shop beside the newsagents, she had allowed Godric to scoff almost half the box before sending him back to Remus with a note asking how he and Dora were that morning, but as it was she had not received a reply.

The lack of response had left the muggle feeling rather apprehensive. Of course, she told herself, they had to be relatively well to be sent home from hospital, but she couldn't help but think of all the terrible rumours about Azkaban, and the last time she had lain eyes upon Remus in Ambrose Kraft's cottage when she had very nearly mistaken him for a corpse...

They had to be better than Hestia, she mused, for Carrie had yet to be told that she had been discharged from the hospital, and Carrie had spent long hours talking to Hestia who hadn't been too dire to look upon once she had gotten used to it...

No, she assured herself, it would be fine. It would be wonderful. She and Teddy could sit with them and eat chocolate and have normal, every day conversations about what Carrie was going to do about University and what school supplies Teddy needed to buy for his final year at Hogwarts in September.

It was going to be perfect, her little magical world back to normal, her happiness restored.

It was at this thought that made the muggle smile that she heard her Aunt Susan calling to her again and so she was forced to rise to her feet and wander into the kitchen to retrieve her cup of tea.

Aunt Susan was stood before the sink, washing up the bowl and saucepan from Carrie's lunch of tomato soup. As she leant back against the fridge and retrieved her lukewarm tea from beside the kettle, Carrie mumbled:

"Sorry...I forgot to do that."

"Never mind!" Aunt Susan announced brightly, offering her niece an alarmingly bright smile. "Doesn't take me a minute, does it? I'm sorry I couldn't pop back and make it for you myself...I had to work through my lunch hour, you see..."

"It's fine." Carrie told her quickly, taking a gulp of the tea and struggling not to screw her face up when it was much too cool. "I really don't mind."

_I prefer it that way_, she thought as Aunt Susan shot her a pitying look.

"Such a brave girl!" Aunt Susan murmured, eyes growing watery as they often did when she looked at Carrie too long, and Carrie offered her a suitably sad smile before mumbling:

"I'm going to go and get ready...Teddy's coming to walk me over to his house. His parents came home the other day. I think I'll be staying for tea."

"That sounds lovely!" Aunt Susan enthused, nodding encouragingly as if to try and cheer her. "You have a wonderful time then, won't you?"

"Yeah..." Carrie smiled, abandoning the rest of the tea so that she could retreat back into her bedroom.

She spent the following half an hour compiling a mental list of what she ought say and what she ought not say when she finally went to see Remus and Dora.

_Do tell them how grateful you are for what they did at St. Mungo's._

_Don't, absolutely don't mention Azkaban. _

_You're looking well..._

_I'm happy at Aunt Susan's. I really am..._

_Isn't the weather ghastly this afternoon?_

"Carrie?" At the sound of Aunt Susan's voice, Carrie very nearly sighed with irritation, only to leap to her feet and snatch up her bag when she heard: "Teddy's here!"

She bolted out into the hallway to find Teddy in the doorway, stooped as he made a fuss over Aunt Susan's cat, a rather fat and fluffy tabby who went by the name of Ronnie.

"Hi!" Carrie greeted a little breathlessly as she practically skidded to a halt before him, startling the feline somewhat and causing it to bolt past Teddy and out onto the landing beyond, and the young wizard straightened up with a smile.

Today Teddy's hair was an uncharacteristically pale shade of brown, as if the colour had been sapped from him, indeed Carrie thought his face looked a little pale too, weary...

And yet at the sight of her he gave an exaggerated leap backwards, which managed to startle Ronnie even more because he streaked off down the stairs with an indigent little hiss, before holding his arms up to shield his face with a exclamation of:

"SWEET MERLIN, MY EYES! IT'S STUNNING!" When Carrie sniggered he slowly lowered his arms, peering cautiously at her before letting out a huge sigh, arms dropping back to his sides as he breathed: "Oh, Carrie! It's only you...phew!"

"Silly..." she mumbled, feeling her cheeks redden as she slung the bag over her shoulder, quite glad to turn away from him for a moment as she called towards the living room: "I'm off now, Auntie! I'll be back after tea!" Not waiting for a reply she stepped out onto the landing, pulling the door shut behind her with one hand and reaching for his with her other. As they set off down the countless flights of stairs that could give Grimmauld Place a run for it's money, she asked:

"How are you all today?"

Teddy puffed his cheeks in consideration for a moment before deciding:

"Knackered." At her questioning glance he told her: "Dad woke me up at three o'clock this morning because he needed the bathroom. And of course Mum wakes Dad up all the time...only last night Dad woke me up because there was a bit of drama and Mum punched him in the face..."

"Punched him in the face?"

"Yeah...she was dreaming. Must've thought somebody was attacking her or something, so when Dad tried to wake her up she just went for him...and Dad's not much up for all that right now, what with his leg in plaster and his chest bound up. I'm getting tired lifting him already and it's only been one full day. Grandma Molly says she'll send Uncle Charlie round tomorrow so he can do it for the day...not that Dad actually moves about very much. He only leaves his bed to go to the bathroom and to do the exercises the healers told him to do. But just doing that seems to tire him out. We were supposed to put him in my bed and I was meant to sleep on the sofa, so Mum doesn't keep waking him up and disturbing him, only he threw a tantrum the second we left the hospital, he won't leave Mum on her own for anything or anybody."

As they reached the bottom of the final flight of steps and made for the door out into the car park, Carrie felt somewhat apprehensive about her visit, and didn't feel terribly reassured when Teddy recalled:

"They're dead excited to see you, you know. Mum said so just this morning when I took her some breakfast."

"Me too..." Carrie mumbled as they stepped outside, and Teddy cast a brief glance around the empty car park before Carrie felt the sudden pull of apparation.

The door to the Lupins' house was opened by an apron-clad Molly Weasley, who ushered the two of them inside with a bright smile.

"You're back just in time, Teddy dear!" she announced as the mouth-watering smell of cooked chicken wafted up the hallway from the kitchen. "Your father's been calling for you again."

"Right..." Teddy hastily kicked off his shoes and made for the stairs, calling back to Carrie over his shoulder. "Give us a second, Carrie, and I'll come back down."

Carrie was left alone in the hallway with Molly, who watched Teddy head upstairs with a heavy sigh.

"How are they?" Carrie asked, hoping for a brighter picture than the one Teddy had painted for her, and the Weasley matriarch frowned deeply.

"Better than they were." she said, turning to bustle her way back towards the kitchen, and Carrie followed, glancing up at the ceiling at a rather loud bump from above. "We're having roast chicken for dinner, are you staying?"

"Yes..." Carrie told her, managing a vague smile as she paused just short of the kitchen door, only to look up at the ceiling again when there came another bump and she heard Teddy cry:

"Sorry, sorry...just...that's it, that's better."

The muggle backed off down the hallway again until she reached the bottom of the stairs, and she glanced up towards the landing just in time to see an arm slump over the bannister, grasping hold of the wood.

"Let me rest a moment..." she heard Remus mumble hoarsely.

"Alright." Teddy said, and there was a long pause before Remus wondered:

"Didn't wake her, did we?"

"No Dad, she's fast asleep."

"Good. Sweet Merlin, these ribs..."

"Carrie's downstairs." Teddy informed the werewolf in an attempt to cheer him, and Carrie smiled when Remus instantly brightened and asked:

"Why didn't you say? Let's hurry up, then."

A long series of mutterings and stumbling footsteps later and Carrie heard the bathroom door being closed and Teddy called:

"Shout when you're ready."

Carrie wandered back down to the kitchen again, leaning against the doorframe as she watched Molly fuss over a trio of bubbling saucepans.

"How're Fleur and Hestia?" she asked the witch, reaching to push the hair back from her eyes.

"Fleur was discharged last Thursday." Molly told her with a vague smile. "Perfectly fit and healthy."

"And Hestia? Any news on if she'll walk or not?"

Carrie's heart instantly sank as Molly bowed her head sadly.

"I'm afraid they've yet to even consider whether or not that's possible." Molly admitted, setting down her wand and turning to look at Carrie mournfully. "Hestia's condition has worsened considerably over the past week. They say she has picked up an infection of some kind, perhaps from the damp in the attic at Headquarters...the healers are terribly worried about her."

Carrie's eyes widened to hear this news and she fiddled nervously with the hem of her cardigan as she asked:

"She'll get better though, won't she? The healers will make her better?"

But Molly sighed heavily, gaze dropping towards her shoes.

"At the rate the infection is spreading through her bones...she might very well not make it."

Carrie felt a sudden weakness seize her and she reached to grip hold of the doorframe behind her in case she might fall.

"A...are you saying she's going to die?" she whispered in horror, only for Teddy's voice to call:

"Carrie? You can come up now!"

Molly's expression was suddenly stern.

"Not a word to Remus and Tonks." she insisted, reaching to dab at her eyes with a sleeve. "Remus' discharge papers went unsigned for a week by the psychiatric healer and they've got Tonks under observation. They of all people don't need the added grief."

Carrie felt quite shaken by this information as she turned to shuffle to the stairs. Nevertheless she was determined to put on a brave and she plastered the brightest smile that she could muster onto her face as she took the stairs two at a time and made for the master bedroom. She passed Teddy on the landing, who muttered something about a cup of tea, and found herself left to enter alone.

The room was dim for the little light of the cloudy day outside was blocked out by the curtains drawn across the window in favour of a soft light upon Remus' bedside table. The werewolf was sat atop the duvet, leant back against a mound of pillows, legs stretched out before him, one of which was in plaster from just above the ankle to just past his knee. He was wearing a loose jumper, no shirt underneath, and a pair of trousers that looked at least two sizes too large for him. His face, though pale, appeared to have lost the bruises that Carrie recalled from before, save for one upon his jaw. Carrie wondered if this had been where Dora had struck him the night beforehand.

Dora lay beside him, fast asleep with the duvet tucked carefully around her, face tinged grey and hair lank and mousy. Her eyelids looked rather puffy and pink. Though sleeping soundly her breathing was heavy and ragged, and Carrie shuffled into the room, eying her worriedly.

"Punctured lung." Remus' voice supplied quietly, making the muggle jump a little, and she hastily turned her attention back to him, lips forming a silent _Oh_.

The werewolf managed to smile faintly, one hand resting carefully against the sleeping witch's arm, thumb scuffing pale skin absentmindedly.

"Hello." Carrie greeted, voice a loud whisper for fear of Dora waking up, and his smile broadened a little as he murmured:

"Hello."

Carrie pursed her lips together in wonder as to what to say next, and found herself reaching into her bag.

"I've brought the chocolate you asked for." she told him, pulling the loot in question from her bag and holding it up for him to see, and he slumped back against his pillows a little with a chuckle.

"Excellent." he said and she tiptoed around the bed until she was stood at his side, and she held the chocolate out to him with a grin. He accepted the offering, dropping it into his lap so that he could look down at it, amusement tugging at his lips before he looked back up at his visitor. "I don't suppose I've eaten any chocolate in a month!" he recalled, quite despairing at the notion and were it not for Dora still fast asleep beside him Carrie would have thrown her head back and laughed at the top of her lungs, because of all the things that he had been deprived of whilst in Azkaban, chocolate seemed the most ridiculous to complain about.

Instead, Carrie chose to throw her arms around him, smothering her amusement in his shoulder, and before she could quite fathom how the laughter had slowed to a sob in the back of her throat and tears sprung from the corner of her eyes, accumulating in a damp patch upon his shoulder.

Remus carefully reached to put his arms around her, and there they stayed for several long minutes until she realised she had one elbow pressed against his bandaged ribs and she hastily shuffled back from him with a muttered apology that he seemingly ignored. She watched in silence for a long moment as he set about unwrapping the first bar of chocolate, eyes unfathomably keen as he snapped the bar up into squares.

As she studied his face, Carrie couldn't help but feel that he seemed to have aged a few more years over the past month, and his eyes, like Dora's, seemed somewhat red and puffy...

Carrie wondered if perhaps he had been crying, but immediately dismissed the idea because she could not for the life of her imagine him in such a state at all. She was the one who did the crying and he the comforting, not the other way around...

The same went for Dora, the muggle mused, and yet...

"Nice bruise." she commented, nodding towards his jaw, and he paused in his meticulous snapping to offer her a grin.

"I think so."

"Dora hit you when she was dreaming."

"Yes..." For a moment he looked deeply troubled and Carrie rather wished she had not attempted to steer the conversation in Dora's direction, only for the look to fade as he added: "but not there."

"Where'd you get it then?" Carrie asked, glad to change the subject a little, and to her surprise he positively beamed.

"Ambrose Kraft hexed me the morning after the attack upon Headquarters." he told her, as if this were something that ought delight her, and when she merely stared at him blankly he went back to snapping chocolate, pausing to pop a square into his mouth. "He was just signing us out at the gatehouse to drag me off to somewhere or other when the man behind the desk announced that he had a message to pass on to me. Apparently a Miss Carrie Winters wanted me to know that she loves me." He chuckled under his breath for a moment before adding: "And quite naturally Mr. Kraft was rather bemused by this news, after all he had just spent a good ten minutes describing to me in agonizing detail how he had Obliviated you that day at Queenswood. I'm afraid I couldn't quite restrain myself from grinning at his failure. Needless to say he took offense...the healers at Mungo's have been quite bemused by how long it's taken to heal."

Carrie smothered a snigger into her hand at this little tale.

"I'm sorry I got you into trouble." she said, though she was still grinning, and the werewolf shook his head rather vigorously before popping a second square of chocolate into his mouth.

"Don't be!" he laughed, seemingly forgetting to keep his voice down. "I hope it never heals!"

In the bed beside him, Dora stirred, reaching one arm sideways, hand flopping down into his lap, and Carrie watched a deep frown crease her brow, fingers trailing over the squares of chocolate, smearing it upon her fingertips.

"Remus...?" the witch mumbled, voice rather slurred from slumber, and her husband reached to lay his hand atop of hers.

"Dora?"

"Is that...chocolate?"

"Mmm..."

There was a long silence as the witch considered this confirmation before her fingers enclosed around a generous handful of confectionery and she mumbled:

"Can I have some?"

Remus reached to carefully prise the chocolate from her grasp, pulling her hand free from his lap and away from the prize.

"No." he decided, pausing to press a kiss to her sticky palm as Carrie dissolved into giggles. "It's mine."


	23. Epilogue

_Note: And here it is, the final chapter! _

_I would just like to say that I am so thrilled by the response to this story, for the first time I have a 'fic with over 300 reviews! Thank you to everybody who has stuck with Carrie throughout this series so far, and thank you to everybody who took the time to write and let me know when they have enjoyed reading!_

_As usual, I would absolutely love to hear from you all again with your favorite characters, scenes, cliffhangers etc! After all, it really would be helpful now I have a sequel to write! _

_Speaking of sequels, the next story in this series as I mentioned previously will be **Meet the Animagus**, as chosen by the poll that so many of you were kind enough to take part in! Usually I post the first chapter straight after completing the previous story, only as it is I haven't finished that chapter yet! (I've started it, honest!) So, if anybody would like to know when the new story is up, stick me on author alert or, if you would prefer, just give me a shout and I will be sure to PM you when it is up! _

_So, I shall stop rambling on now and get to the actual conclusion of this story! It only remains for me to say thank you one last time for making writing this story such good fun for me!_

**23: Epilogue**

Dawn had brought a bright and cloudless sky, yet when she had made the walk across town, avoiding the remnants of the previous night's rain so as not to dirty the freshly polished black boots that her Aunt Susan had presented to her that morning, Carrie Winters had found herself hunching her shoulders against the fierce wind that whistled along the streets, rustling bushes and biting at the muggle's cheeks.

It seemed an appropriate sort of day, she mused as she stood in the kitchen doorway of the Lupins' house, observing the lone figure sat at the kitchen table. Bright yet bitter.

Dora Lupin sat stock still, staring blankly into the mirror that she had set down upon the table before her some half an hour previously, pose unnaturally upright for somebody whose family had only deemed her strong enough to venture downstairs for the first time in weeks just a few days previously. What little colour that had been slowly creeping back into her cheeks those past few days had seemingly been bleached, leaving behind a cool, porcelain skinned mask that made Carrie shudder a little to look upon for too long. The muggle eyed the other objects that the witch had set down upon the table beside the mirror; and upon spotting a comb she straightened up, shifting her feet a little more loudly than was strictly necessary.

Dora seemingly got the message, for she consented to murmuring:

"Wotcher, Carrie love."

"Morning." Carrie shuffled into the room, coming to a halt behind the witch's chair. "How're you feeling?"

Dora's lips twitched towards a smile as she continued to scrutinize herself in the mirror.

"All set." she nodded, fingers toying meaningfully with the rather crumpled sheet of parchment that lay in her lap, and Carrie nodded too before reaching for the comb upon the table.

"Can I do your hair?" she asked, voice brightening a little at the suggestion, and the witch leant back in her seat with a small frown.

"What's to be done with it, do you reckon?" she asked with a chuckle, and Carrie took this as invitation to reach to sweep the mousy locks back behind her ears.

"Well we could comb it at the very least." the muggle suggested, separating out a portion and proceeding to attack the knots with the comb. "When's Teddy back from Diagon Alley?"

"Any time now." Dora murmured, eyes back upon the mirror, a small frown creasing her brow...

THUD!

"What was that?" Carrie asked, head snapping up so that she could look up at the ceiling in surprise at the sudden noise, but Dora barely flinched.

"That would probably be my cripple of a husband doing battle with his suit trousers." she theorized, and after a pause she too glanced towards the ceiling and shouted: "ALRIGHT, LOVE?"

When, after a sizable pause, Remus failed to respond, his wife went back to staring at the mirror, concluding nonchalantly:

"He'll live."

Carrie went back to combing the knots from the witch's hair, occasionally glancing down at the reflection of the deeply pensive expression upon Dora's face as she drifted back off into her thoughts, thumb scuffing the parchment in her lap.

Carrie wondered what she was thinking, and yet wasn't entirely sure she wanted to know, or indeed if she was able to even comprehend anything that might have crossed Dora's mind in recent weeks. As time had gone on and both Remus and Dora had continued to recover, both now no longer confined to bed or taking long naps during the day, Carrie had grown ever more relieved that things in the Lupin household were beginning to get back to normal...

And yet things were different.

They were different.

Carrie might not have noticed that Remus was changed at all had she not been watching him so closely whenever she came to visit. He appeared to have developed a habit of staring fixated at things for prolonged periods of time. Especially Dora. Carrie would watch him watching her, his eyes following the witch around the kitchen as she made tea, or simply gazing at the side of her head as they sat in the sitting room in the evenings listening to the wireless.

He had taken to sighing an awful lot and rubbing his eyes as if they were sore, and if Carrie were ever to ask him if something were wrong he would smile far less convincingly than usual when murmuring denial.

The change in Dora was startlingly obvious.

She was quiet.

She did not so much laugh as chuckle under her breath, and she would sooner smile vaguely than speak at all. She nodded, gestured and shrugged her way through the days, leaving the house to be unnaturally silent.

And yet, in the grand scheme of things, she was in good cheer. Except perhaps for this particular morning which, Carrie mused as she abandoned one section of hair in favour of another, was entirely understandable. At this thought the muggle's face fell somewhat at the thought of the long day ahead, and she was quite glad when Dora dragged herself back from her thoughts and murmured:

"New dress?"

Carrie chewed on her lip for a moment, frowning at a particularly stubborn knot.

"No, it's old I think...I can't remember how old."

Dora gave a soft huff that might have been close to another chuckle.

"Few more sessions at Mungo's and you never know, you might just remember where you bought it."

"Maybe." Carrie flinched at how dull her voice sounded. She had promised herself that she would remain spirited, for Dora and Remus' sakes at the very least, especially after the incident the evening beforehand.

"_I'm just saying..." Harry said as he sunk down into the armchair, pausing to fiddle rather awkwardly with his glasses. "Are you sure this is a good idea?" _

"_It's a bit late to change it now." Dora muttered, frowning down at her lap, the creases deepening considerably when beside her Remus reached to take hold of her hand. _

"_It's never too late, Dora. If...if you want to change your mind it doesn't matter, nobody will mind in the slightest..."_

"_Exactly." Ron agreed from his position leant against the back of Harry's seat. "I mean it's alright, we all get it, we all understand..."_

_From where she and Teddy sat upon the floor before the fireplace, forgotten game of chess set down between them, Carrie watched the red haired wizard trail off into silence when Dora glanced up from her lap to stare at him questioningly. _

"_Understand what, precisely?" the witch inquired somewhat challengingly, causing both of her fellow Aurors to shift their feet uncomfortably. _

"_They're only saying." Remus murmured, grip upon her hand tightening a little, only to have her pull herself free from him, crossing her arms firmly across her chest. _

"_Do any of you realise just how irritating you are?" Dora asked, face contorting into a scowl, and Ron opened his mouth to protest, only to promptly close it again. Apparently this only served to irritate the witch further for she rose so abruptly to her feet that she very nearly stumbled sideways into the wall. _

"_Whatever happened to getting on with life?" she snapped, swatting away Remus' hand as he reached to steady her. "Mad-Eye would be bloody ashamed of the lot of you..."_

"_Mad-Eye wasn't completely heartless..." Harry began to mumble in protest, only for Dora to shriek:_

"_Shut UP! Just stop it, all of you! You're doing my bloody head in!" When her outburst was met with silence and she still felt compelled to snap she rounded on her husband as he sat gazing up at her, eyes wide. "And stop bloody STARING AT ME!" _

_Carrie felt her cheeks warming in embarrassment that she was witnessing such drama as she watched Remus lean to press a hand across his eyes, causing Dora to demand:_

"_WHAT NOW?" _

_Over in the armchair, Harry seemed to give his head an involuntary shake, a silent plea that Remus be sensible enough not to grace this question with an answer, but the werewolf failed to notice. _

"_I never should have taken you with me." he mumbled, frowning into the black of his palm, and Harry had leant back in his chair in anticipation of what might come next. _

_Dora's hand flew upwards and for a horrified moment Carrie thought she might strike her husband about the head in fury, only for her to grasp a handful of mousy hair in agitation instead as she shrieked:_

"_Don't be such an IDIOT, Remus!" She turned abruptly to face the wall, sucking in a deep and calming breath that very nearly made Carrie let out a small sigh of relief before she said: "If we'd not shared those hexes between us you'd never have made it to Azkaban, you'd have been DEAD! If you reckon I'm better off a widow than I am right now then those bloody healers never should have discharged you because you need your head looked at!" She cast a glance over at Harry and Ron before stalking off towards the door, muttering: "Go back to the Ministry, both of you. I'm pretty sure MLE will have a delinquent or two banged up in the overnight holdings. You can go and play psychiatrists with them instead."_

_There was a long pause as they all watched her disappear into the hallway and when her stomping footsteps sounded upon the stairs a moment later, Remus finally leant back from the refuge of his hand to regard both Harry and Ron despairingly. _

"_I'm so sorry..." he murmured, gaze dropping to his lap in embarrassment. "Don't take it personally, she doesn't mean it."_

"_It's fine, honestly." Harry said, reaching to push his glasses up his nose as Ron straightened up and adjusted his jumper in a rather business-like fashion. _

"_It's not Tonks' fault Mad-Eye made her as mental as he was." the red-haired Auror announced nonchalantly, and Remus managed a faint huff of amusement. Turning to look down at the two teenagers sat upon the carpet, Ron added: "I reckon your dad could murder a cuppa, Ted." _

Carrie had stood up on the landing on her way back from the bathroom some half an hour later, listening to the fierce murmurings from the other side of the bedroom door:

_I'm going to do it! I am, I'm going to, I said I would and I will, I don't give a toss what you or anybody thinks, Remus. I don't give a damn what they say at Mungo's, what do they know anyway? They're healers not bloody Legimens, and I'm not bloody mental, you're all over reacting, I'm fine, I'm absolutely fine, there's nothing wrong with me..._

And Carrie had heard the muffled sobs and felt bordering on frightened of the day that would follow, because she knew she wanted to be strong but wasn't quite sure she could manage it.

She concentrated furiously on combing Dora's hair. She wanted to hum or maybe even whistle but that seemed just a bit too much. A bit too fake on a day like this. Instead she commented:

"How many galleons shall we bet that Ted manages to get his tie into knots when he gets dressed later?"

She was glad that Dora managed quite a bright smile.

"That boy...!" she muttered with a shake of her head. "How in Merlin's name he's gone through Hogwarts all these years wearing a tie every day with seemingly no clue how to actually tie it in the first place...it's utterly ridiculous!"

"Perhaps he asks his Head of House to do it for him." Carrie sniggered, and the witch's eyes grew somewhat mischievous as she agreed:

"Perhaps he does! I shall have to ask him, later!"

They both chuckled conspiratorially at this plan for teasing and Dora insisted:

"Well he didn't get it from me! I might be clumsy but I'm not stupid, there's a difference!"

"We'll blame Remus, then?"

"No, stupidity isn't a Lupin gene. I'd say it probably comes from the Blacks...obviously it skipped a generation when it got to me."

As she finally finished combing the witch's hair, reaching to put the comb back down upon the table, Carrie felt rather triumphant as they both laughed loudly at this observation and Dora straightened up, leaning to grin at herself in the mirror.

"Well I look vaguely respectable now, don't I?" she decided happily, reaching searchingly into the small cloth bag that she had set down beside the mirror, extracting a pot of face powder and brush. "You never know, I might look human by the time we leave."

She was midway through unscrewing the lid to the pot when there came the sound of somebody knocking upon the front door, and before Carrie could turn around she had risen to her feet and murmured: "I'll get it, it's probably Teddy."

Carrie shuffled down the hallway after her, pausing by the living room door as footsteps sounded upon the landing above and Dora called:

"S'alright love, I've got it!" And with that, she reached to pull the door open.

And promptly froze.

There upon the doorstep, shifting his feet awkwardly and peering at the witch through messy, disarrayed hair was Cain, a crumpled envelope clutched firmly in both hands.

There was a very long silence as Douser and Auror stared at one another in astonishment. Dora shuffled backwards a few steps. The movement made him flinch.

"I...I was hoping...hoping you'd be the one to...to answer." he mumbled, grip upon the envelope tightening, and Dora simply stared at him blankly, reaching to lay a steadying hand against the wall beside her.

Carrie stomped her way up the hallway until she was stood at Dora's side, folding her arms firmly across her chest.

"Go away!" she demanded, causing his eyes to dart sideways to look at her in surprise.

"Hello Carrie..." he greeted rather hesitantly, only for the muggle to tell him:

"You're not welcome here, so you best just leave!"

Cain ignored her.

"Have...have you seen the Prophet this morning?" he asked Dora hopefully. When she made no response he told her: "It's Kraft, you see...he...well somebody got him...in his cell and...and they're saying he's dead and...and they reckon it was one of the guards...there's...there's going to be an inquiry..."

When this news was met with silence, his gaze dropped guiltily to his shoes for a long moment before he cleared his throat determinedly and straightened up, stepping into the hallway and holding out the envelope, expression pleading.

"I...I came to ask for your help, Tonks. It's...it's Isaac, you see, the Wizengamot won't listen to him and...and Harry won't vouch for me so...I was just hoping...if...if you were to just...just sign this for me..."

Abruptly the envelope in his hand burst into flames and he dropped it with a shout, jumping backwards in shock.

"Get out." a voice instructed icily from halfway down the stairs.

Cain's gaze darted up to Remus as the werewolf made a slow, stiff descent of the stairs, only to return to Dora, eyes widening pleadingly.

"Please Tonks, they'll throw me in Azkaban for life..."

"Congratulations." Remus said as he reached the final step. "It's particularly nice this time of year."

"_Remus_." At long last, Dora spoke, voice far more stern than Carrie had expected. She straightened up, folding her arms across her chest, gaze upon Cain suddenly piercing.

"Please..." Cain began again, only for the witch to demand:

"Apologise." She took a step forward, eyes narrowing as Remus came to stand at Carrie's side.

"I..." Cain trailed off rather uncertainly, taking a small step backwards at her advance, reaching to grasp hold of the doorframe behind him.

"My husband is under the impression that you and Mortell are both attempted rapists. You've had him worried to death about me, he's been made sick to the stomach because of your jeering. Apologise to him, Cain, or I'll have you packed off to Azkaban this instant and I'll make sure you stay there."

There was a sizable pause as Cain considered this threat before he bowed his head shamefully, peering up at Remus through his fringe.

"I...I didn't touch her, not like that, I swear it. It...it was Mortell, it was all him, I...I was trying to stop him. And...and I know...I know what I said to you, I know what we said but I...I didn't...I didn't mean it...I...I didn't think Mortell meant it either! We just wanted you to talk...if...if I'd realised...if I'd known..." he trailed off with a shudder, mumbling: "I'm very, very sorry."

Apparently satisfied, Dora turned to Remus expectantly.

"Pen and parchment, love?" she suggested, and when he merely turned to stare at her in bewilderment she added: "Come on, I want him out of here."

Remus shot Cain one last look before heading for the study, and Dora turned to head back towards the kitchen, pausing when she heard Cain make to follow her.

"Stay out there." she muttered darkly. "I don't want you in here."

For many long minutes that seemed to last for an eternity, Carrie simply stood, staring at the Douser upon the doorstep in silence, and when his staring back at her became too much to bear she turned and hurried back into the kitchen, where Remus and Dora were clustered around by the front door, muttering to one another. Upon the kitchen table Carrie spied a hastily scribbled note upon a piece of parchment, and seeing the two Lupins seemingly engaged in debate, Dora's face buried in the front of Remus' shirt as he hugged her tightly to him, whispering under his breath into the top of her mousy head, the muggle leant to read Dora's hurried script.

_For The Attention of Minister Shacklebolt and the Wizengamot._

_Official Witness Statement regarding the Trial of Mr. Cain Gudgen Vs. The Wizengamot._

_Upon the day in question, Mr. Gudgen entered my cell, accompanied by Mr. Roderick Mortell. Mr. Gudgen proceeded to beat me about the head with his fists and inflicted a number of injuries upon my person. He then proceeded to choke me until Mr. Mortell intervened. Consequently he is to my mind without question guilty of unprovoked assault upon a prisoner categorized at that time as Vulnerable (C category). I would like it to be understood very clearly that Mr. Gudgen did not at any time attempt or to my mind have any intention of assaulting me sexually, and when Mr. Mortell made an attempt of this nature Mr. Gudgen did in fact make every effort to drag Mr. Mortell from me and out of the cell._

_Both Mr. Gudgen and Mr. Mortell informed my husband prior to entering my cell that they both had intentions of this nature towards me. It is my belief that Mr. Gudgen believed them both to be bluffing and that they were simply being malicious for the sake of causing distress._

_It is my opinion that all charges of attempted sexual assault should be dropped. Mr. Gudgen should instead be charged with Premeditated Assault, and Breach of Trust whilst taking into account the position that he had been placed in by being an employee of the Ministry for Magic, which he has shamelessly abused on several occasions. When considering his subsequent sentence I would like to urge the prosecutors to consider Mr. Gudgen's attempts to stop Mr. Mortell, as well as his actions later in the Department of Mysteries._

_I was reinstated into office upon my release from St. Mungo's Hospital, where the healers deemed me sound of mind. Consequently any claims to the contrary are made null by my medical records which may be obtained from the hospital upon request._

_It is my wish to retain my right to abstain from appearing in Court. _

_I hereby declare the above statement to be true in it's entirety to the very best of my knowledge. _

_Nymphadora Andromeda Lupin_

_Deputy Head of Aurors_

"Just...just let him take it and leave." Dora mumbled into the front of Remus' shirt as Carrie hastily shuffled back a few steps. "Make him leave."

And with that, as Remus went to snatch up the parchment and disappeared back down the hallway, the witch went to sit back down at the table. Carrie watched uneasily as she gazed at her pallid face for a long moment before drawing in a deep, calming breath, holding it for a long moment before swiping the tears from her eyes, snatching up the face powder and brush. She brushed a generous dusting of powder across her face, expression one of deep concentration. She dusted colour into her cheeks, smoothed the dark circles from under her eyes and even managed a shiny pink lipstick smile before giving herself a nod of approval and wondering:

"Where's Ted gotten to? We'll be late if he doesn't hurry up."

It was almost as if nothing had happened.

Carrie made a hasty retreat into the sitting room. There, she found Remus rubbing polish into his shoes with what she suspected was much greater vigor than was strictly necessary. She wanted to say something comforting about the incident at the doorway, but nothing came to mind and she was quite relieved to hear another knock at the door signalling Teddy's return from Diagon Alley.

"Hello Beautiful." the youngest Lupin murmured softly when she went to open the door. As he stepped across the threshold, freshly laundered suit held carefully in a cover in one hand, he leant to press a kiss to her cheek with a whispered: "How's it all going?"

"Cain was here." Carrie informed him in an undertone, only to jump a little when he abruptly thrust the suit into her arms and made a run for the kitchen, muttering:

"Bloody hell..." Skidding to a halt in the doorway to find his mother still sat staring at herself in the mirror, he asked tentatively: "Alright, Mum?"

"Alright, Ted?" came the ambiguous response.

Teddy pursed his lips together rather apprehensively before announcing:

"Carrie says Cain showed up..."

As Carrie came to stand at Teddy's shoulder, Dora leant forward, lips pouting rather exaggeratedly as she scrutinized the lipstick thoughtfully.

"Mum..." Teddy began impatiently, only for his mother to snap:

"It's fine, Ted, Dad and I had it covered! Besides, we've more important things to think about, if you don't hurry up and put that suit on we're going to be late!"

"Right..." Teddy muttered, frowning rather uncertainly, and when Dora failed to say anything else he instead made for the living room, where Remus had given up on polishing his shoes and was sitting, face buried in his hands instead.

"Everything alright, Dad?"

At the sound of his son's voice, Remus jumped.

"Fine, Ted..." he muttered hurriedly, a familiar fake smile materialising on his face.

Teddy gave a snort of disbelief.

"I hope you hexed the bastard!" the metamorphmagus told his father angrily. "Who does he think he is, showing up on today of all days..."

"Go and get dressed." Remus told him, reaching to pass a weary hand across his brow. "And you can bring your mother's cloak down for her when you come."

And all too soon, the four of them were clustered in the hallway, cloaks and coat donned and faces suitably sombre.

_Don't cry_, Carrie told herself sternly as Teddy fiddled with his tie and Dora reached to adjust the silken armband upon Remus' arm with a small frown. _Don't cry, Carrie, don't start crying..._

The tears came almost as soon as they reached the hilltop clearing, the wind hissing through the clustered trees around them as they shuffled across the grass towards the gathering crowd of black cloaked figures. They came to a halt just behind the unnaturally quiet James and Albus Potter, neither of who did not so much as look round to greet them, and Carrie gazed over the top of Albus' head to spot the carefully dug hole in the ground that they were all gazing at despairingly.

Carrie Winters had never been to a funeral before.

She stood, staring at the open grave, grasping hold of Teddy by the hand as more and more people made their silent way into the clearing. An elderly witch with frizzy grey hair was stood just at the graveside, sobbing into a lace handkerchief, an upright and pale faced wizard stood beside her, one feeble arm around her shoulders as he gazed down at his shoes.

"Are those her parents?" Carrie breathed to Teddy just beside her, and his grip upon her hand tightened a little as he murmured:

"Must be."

Carrie hastily looked around for somebody else to look at, for the sight of grieving parents did nothing but make the tears stream faster down her cheeks. Her gaze came to rest upon Remus and Dora beside her, and she felt reassured by their composure. Remus stood just behind Dora, his arms around her, their hands clasped together at her waist as she leant back against him.

"Nice and sunny." the witch whispered, sounding rather relieved, and the werewolf gave the smallest of nods and agreed:

"Yes, it is."

"Good day for it."

"Yes...couldn't really be better."

Carrie simply stared at this mundane conversation until Dora glanced sideways at her and murmured:

"Tissue, Carrie love?"

For some reason that she couldn't quite put her finger on, Carrie felt quite startled.

"N...no thank you." she mumbled, and hastily looked down at her shoes.

Dora went back to staring at the people gathered upon the opposite side of the grave.

"No hats." she observed, as if this were something of great significance. "Nobody's wearing a hat."

"Mm." Remus agreed, as if this were simply fascinating, and his wife said:

"I knew they wouldn't. That's why I didn't go and buy one."

"I don't remember the last time you wore a hat." Remus whispered as another mourner let out an abrupt little wail, making Carrie jump, and Dora mused:

"I don't think they really suit me, do you?"

Frowning down at her boots, Carrie leant sideways until she could lean her head against Teddy's shoulder, and he reached to put an arm around her shoulders. She felt rather as though she wanted to clamp her hands over her ears, because really talking about hats and weather just seemed...well...wrong.

"You wore one to Ron and Hermione's wedding." Remus was whispering, chin coming to rest rather casually atop Dora's head, and the witch frowned deeply at this reminder.

"Yeah...it was hideous!" she muttered, and Carrie couldn't help but cast a rather disapproving glance in their direction at their continued oddness.

But then again, she supposed, if it made it all easier...

"It's nice and sunny, don't you think?" Carrie whispered to Teddy, and the young wizard glanced up at the clear blue sky and agreed:

"Yes, it's a beautiful day...goodness, have you seen Ginny's dress? That's rather pretty, don't you think?"

By the time the Ministry official had called for silence amongst the whispering crowd, Carrie found herself feeling remarkably calm after a hushed conversation about the weather, dresses and a debate about just how old the ancient looking witch dressed in the faintly ridiculous fur coat was. Mundane conversation seemed very sensible when she thought about it. After all, as Remus had told her some days previously when she had admitted to being nervous about going, funerals weren't truly a time to be sad. They were a celebration of a person's life. It wouldn't do to spend the whole time crying.

This would be what Hestia would have wanted.

The crowd parted silently as a slow procession broke free from the trees, a sombre line of wizards led by a witch with frizzy black hair who, were it not for her tall stature, Carrie might have mistaken for Hestia herself, was walked with lit wand held ceremonially in front of her.

Carrie watched numbly as the wizards made their way through the crowd, pale wooden coffin balanced steadily upon their shoulders, and the muggle heard a sharp intake of breath beside her. She glanced to see Dora's lips purse firmly together into a line and Remus' grip upon her visibly tightened.

Carrie could feel the tears pricking at her eyes again and as the mourners ducked their heads as the coffin passed she was quite glad to stare at her shoes again.

The Ministry official relieved the wizards of their burden with a wave of his wand and as the coffin slowly lowered itself into the grave they retreated back into the crowd. And with that, the service began.

Birds twittered in the softly rustling trees as the deep, sombre voice of the Ministry official murmured solemn words that Carrie barely heard a word of. The muggle leant heavily against Teddy's side, eyes drifting closed as she concentrated on the soft and reassuring murmurings that seemed almost soothing in the bitter cold. There came the occasional murmur from the crowd, parts of wizards' ritual that she had no knowledge of, the occasional sob that she understood only too well. And then the peace was disturbed by movement beside her and Carrie straightened up to see Dora reaching to pull the tattered piece of parchment from her pocket. She gazed down at it determinedly for a long moment as the gathered crowd all seemed to turn and stare at her expectantly, only for Remus to give her a gentle push forward. She promptly stuffed the parchment back into her pocket and made her way through the crowd to the graveside. A few whispers and mutterings ran through the crowd until the mousy haired witch came to stand beside the Ministry official, glancing down at the coffin for a moment before looking up again.

There was instant silence again.

Dora took a moment to gaze around at the people around her, dusting at a non-existent spec of dirt upon her Phoenix Day cloak, before drawing breath to speak.

"There are...a few people who think I shouldn't be standing up here today." she began, pausing to swallow a lump in her throat. "But if she were here, Hestia wouldn't have been one of them. She would have told me to do whatever I felt was important, if it was for a good cause. Because Hestia understood the importance of good causes. She knew what was most important, she knew that life wasn't a rehearsal and she only got to get it right once. I think I can say without doubt that Hestia got her life right. She spent her time standing up for what she believed in, helping others, and bringing light and cheer to some of our very darkest moments.

I met Hestia when I was twenty two years old, at my very first Order meeting...I heard her before I saw her...and I think that's probably how quite a few of us can remember meeting Hestia because she loved laughing...loudly!"

A warming ripple of amusement spread throughout the crowd as the witch gave a rather shaky laugh before continuing.

"Hestia was always useful to have around, back in the days of the second Order, because her giggling used to irritate Mad-Eye almost as much as my mere existence upon this Earth did. It was nice not to be the only one who got shouted at on a regular basis...I think we bonded over our love of winding Mad-Eye up, and after a while I came to realise that there was a whole lot more to Hestia than just a rather high pitched giggle. She was a wonderfully caring and considerate person, and she knew how to make the best of what life had to offer her, even if that wasn't a whole lot sometimes. She liked to feel useful and she was a fiercely loyal friend. I count her amongst some of the very best friends that I have ever had...even if she did insist on having the odd fling with my husband whenever my back was turned for a second or two..." Surprisingly raucous laughter from the assembled Order members and even a snigger from Hestia's sobbing mother.

"I don't really blame him either." Dora added, gaze darting over to where Remus stood, and he offered her a suggestively raised eyebrow. "After all she was a bit of a stunner...and better in bed than I am, so I've been told..."

Whilst the Ministry official's ears reddened, the Order laughed louder than ever and Dora gave her head an unabashed toss.

"Had she realised that I would be the one to speak at her funeral, Hestia would probably have dared me to say that out loud in front of you all...and of course she would have known I'm about as likely to turn down a dare as she was. So there you are, Hestia. I've said it." Her expression grew suddenly solemn as she glanced down at the coffin again, before she cleared her throat purposefully. "One of the great beacons of light in our lives has faded and gone out. But as we all know, all true phoenixes rise again from their ashes...Hestia will never truly be gone. Because we all loved her dearly and couldn't ever forget her or what difference she has made in our lives. We will always remember her for what she was; a wonderful witch who shone a light in dark places, and who had a heart so big that she loved every single one of us, just as we will always love her."

And with that, Dora shuffled back to stand at Remus' side, and as one of Hestia's cousins took her place at the graveside, the witch let out a heavy sigh of relief, leaning heavily against her husband's shoulder.

"You're unbelievable." Carrie heard the werewolf breathe as he reached to slide an arm around her, and to Carrie's surprise the very tips of Dora's hair seemed to brighten, tinged pink as she gazed over at the grave and murmured:

"_We_ were unbelievable."

And Remus smiled faintly and agreed:

"Yes, you were."

An hour later saw Carrie sat in the garden of Hestia's parents' house, listening to more mundane conversation.

"Have you tried the cocktail sausages?" one wizard was busy asking another, and Carrie found herself shaking her head in disbelief.

"I didn't really think it would be like this." she admitted to Teddy, who was sat beside her upon the wall, staring intently over his shoulder into the fish pond. "So...normal, I mean."

"That's what I told Dad at Mrs. Figg's funeral." Teddy recalled, turning back to face her with a smile. "But Dad said funerals are more for the living than the dead. A chance for closure, of getting back to as close to normal as you can manage. And we couldn't all do with a chance like that now, couldn't we?" His gaze darted over meaningfully to where his parents stood talking to Harry, Ron and Hermione. They all appeared to be laughing at whatever Ron had just said and were it not for their dark attire they might have been at a summer garden party.

"We certainly could." Carrie agreed, reaching to hug his arm to her with a smile, and they sat watching normality healing itself for a long few minutes before her mind drifted back to earlier that day and she turned to ask:

"Did you hear about Kraft? Cain says he's dead or...or something!"

"That's what JasmineWickes told me this morning." Teddy told her, sounding bordering on excited. "I bumped into her at Madam Malkins when I went to pick my suit up. She was dead cheerful, asked after Mum and Dad, said she was buying dress robes for her boyfriend or something because his old ones were getting scruffy and they were going out for dinner to some posh place in London. That's why I was late, she said I was almost as tall as him and she wanted me to try them on so she could decide if they'd fit or not. And whilst I was doing that she told me all about Kraft – he got strangled to death in his cell last night. They reckon it was one of the guards, but they didn't use magic to try and make it look like one of the other prisoners did it. Jasmine was dead happy about it, I can tell you! She said she and Isaac wanted in on the investigation, only they're both banned because they're biased, which is true she said, because if she were to find out who did it she'd give whoever it was a medal, not a prison sentence."

"Goodness..." Carrie murmured, not entirely sure how amused she ought be by such goings on, and Teddy let out a soft sigh before getting to his feet and offering her his hand.

"Come on," he told her as she consented to letting him pull her up onto her feet. "Let's go for a walk."

They strolled hand in hand up towards the end of the garden, where the surrounding bushes and trees were tangled and overgrown, and as they picked their way over tree roots towards the back garden wall, a crumbling brick structure caught Carrie's eye and she raised an arm to point at it, only to catch her heel upon a tree root which very nearly sent her tumbling to the ground. As Teddy yanked their entwined fingers upwards to steady her, Carrie was forced to spin and throw an arm around his neck, face buried in the front of his suit jacket with a hiss of pain at a turned ankle.

"Careful!" Teddy sniggered, and as she felt the colour rising on her cheeks Carrie chose to point a blind arm over her shoulder, face still buried in his chest.

"What's that?" she asked, glad for the distraction, and Teddy squinted through the undergrowth for a long moment before telling her:

"It looks like a well."

"A wishing well?" Carrie wondered, drawing back a little so that she could gaze up at him, and the wizard offered her a raised eyebrow, one hand reaching to grope around in his jacket pocket.

A moment later, Carrie found herself offered a shiny silver sickle.

"We could find out!" Teddy suggested, and with a grin she grabbed hold of his hand and they began to pick their way through the weeds to the well's edge.

"Are there such things as wishing wells?" Carrie wondered as Teddy set about tossing the coin up into the air before catching it and throwing it again. "Real ones, I mean...magic ones?"

"Perhaps...in a manner of speaking." the wizard mused with a frown as they reached the well and both leant forward to squint down into the darkness inside.

"That means no." Carrie observed with a grin, and he gave a shrug.

"It means maybe." he insisted, reaching to draw his wand from his pocket and, with a muttered word the darkness was penetrated by wandlight. "Perhaps it depends what you wish for."

"What do you suppose we should wish for, then?" Carrie wondered, leaning to rest her head against his shoulder, and as they both stared down into the well's murky depths Teddy puffed his cheeks in exasperation.

"Well...there are plenty of things we could wish for." he mused, turning the sickle around in his fingers thoughtfully. "The trick is picking which one is best."

There was a long, thoughtful silence before Carrie admitted:

"It would be nice if we didn't have so many things that could do with a wish or two."

And after a moment Teddy reached to press the sickle into her palm.

"Well then, he said as he carefully folded her fingers around the coin before leaning to hold their hands above the well. "Let's wish for that, then."

Carrie failed to suppress a giggle.

"Isn't that cheating?" she asked, causing him to roll his eyes, and with another snigger she consented: "Oh, alright then! Let's wish for that!"

"Let's wish that we didn't need wishes." Teddy said, and she sniggered again when he began to count down from three.

"I wish I didn't need wishes!" they declared together, and as she uncurled her fingers and they both leant to watch the silver coin fall down and disappear into the darkness, Carrie found herself beaming.

At the sound of the soft plop of the coin reaching the bottom, Teddy leant to stifle a snigger into the muggle's hair, and as she turned to throw her arms around him, Carrie Winters peered past his arm back towards the house, where she spotted Remus and Dora still talking quite cheerily with Harry and the others. The sun was still shining and if she squinted, Carrie could have sworn that Dora's hair seemed a shade brighter than it had been earlier. The muggle turned to peer up at Teddy, jumping a little when he leant to press a kiss to the tip of her nose.

"This is a real wishing well, you know." she decided after a moment, glancing back towards the crumbling structure in question.

"Why's that?" he wondered as he reached to smooth her windswept hair.

"Because we made the right wish." Carrie said knowingly, shuffling closer to him with a smile.

"How d'you know that?" Teddy asked, peering over at the well thoughtfully.

"Because it's obvious." Carrie told him, eyes drifting closed as she nestled her head under his chin. "I feel better already."

**Finish.**


End file.
